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A MANDARIN OF THE SECOND CLASS. 



A YOUNG PEOPLES 



HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 



BY W. G. E. CUNNYNGHAM, 

Nine Tears a Missionary in China. 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

REV. COLLINS DENNY, M.A., 

Vanderbilt University. 




Nashville, Tenn. : 

Publishing House of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 

Barbee & Smith, Agents. 

1896. 






Entered, accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, 

By the Book Agents of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



13^ 






TO MY GRANDCHILDREN. 



PREFACE. 

The object of this small volume is to furnish our young peo- 
ple some general information about China and the Chinese. 
In a catalogue of two hundred and fifty books on China, now 
before me, I find but three intended specially for the young, 
and these are small biographies, containing little besides per- 
sonal incidents. To add something, however little, toward sup- 
plying this deficiency in our juvenile literature, the following 
pages have been prepared. A consecutive history of the Chi- 
nese, running through the long and dreary centuries of their 
existence, was of covirse impracticable. To dwell upon their 
peculiarities only, might amuse but would not greatlv profit 
the youthful reader. I have therefore endeavored to select 
such salient features in their national character and history as 
would enable a person of average intelligence to form some 
just idea of the country and the people. How far I have suc- 
ceeded in this attempt, the reader will judge. 

Previous to the beginning of the present century, compara- 
tively little was known in Europe or America concerning the 
people of China or their institutions. Enterprising travelers, 
from the days of Marco Polo, had now and then touched at 
points on the coast of China, and reported, with more or less 
accuracy, what they had seen; but until 1842 no foreigner was 
allowed to travel or reside on the sacred soil of the " Celestial 
Empire." So that China was, to the people of the West, prac- 
tically an unknown land. 

At the close of the "opium war" with England, in 1842, five 
ports on the coast of China were opened to foreign commerce 
where foreign merchants were permitted to reside and conduct 

(5) 



6 PREFACE. 

business ^vith the natives. Christian missionaries were aUo 
granted tlie privilege to live and labor at the open ports; but 
the interior of the countrv ^vas still closed against all "forei£;n 
barbarians." Under these annoying restrictions missionaries 
and merchants remained in China until 1S58, when, by the 
terms of the Tien-Tsin treaty, their privileges were greatly en- 
larged. Four new ports were opened to trade; the navigation 
of the great river, the Yang-tse, was made free to all nations; 
foreigners were allowed to travel through the countrv; Chris- 
tianitv was tolerated, and niissionaries given liberty to reside 
anvwhere in the empire. Such is the condition of affairs in 
China to-day, and such the privileges of all foreigners in treaty 
relations with this old Hermit of the nations. 

The recent war between China and Japan attracted the at- 
tention of the civilized world. It shook the dragon throne of 
China, and disturbed the conservative order of things through- 
out Asia, and even in Europe. The signs of the times are om- 
inous of great changes among the nations, especially in the 
East. What these changes will probably be, we may not antic- 
ipate. Our young people should inform themselves as to in- 
ternational questions, and as to the political and moral condi- 
tion of the world. 

In addition to my own personal observations while in China, 
I have consulted the best authorities accessible to me. I have 
endeavored to give due credit where I have borrowed directly 
an\thing from an author. If in any cas3 I have failed to do 
so, the reader will please believe it an oversight. 

I am indebted to our Mission Rooms, and to returned mission- 
aries, for most of the illustrations which embellish this volume 
— that is, for photographs from' which they have been engraved. 

W. G. E. C. 

Xashville. Tenn., -^fay, 1S96. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

IXTROnUCTIOX 9 

I. AXTIQUITY OF THE ChIXESE I ; 

1 1. G EOGRAPHY OF ChiXA 26 

III. The Population of China 34 

IV. The People of China ^.i 

A'. The Language of the Chinese 55 

\1. The Literature of the Chinese 67 

VII. Government and Laws 79 

VIII. The Dynasties of China 94 

IX. Religions of China 103 

X. Religions of China i^Continued") iiS 

XI. Religions of China (Continued") 130 

XII. Worship of Ancestors i^^. 

XIII. The Sciences in China i:;9 

XIV. Architecture of the Chinese 173 

XV. The Dress of the Chinese 179 

XVI. Diet of the Chinese 1S7 

X VII. Agriculture in China 196 

XVIII. Manufactures in China 206 

XIX. Social and Domestic Life in China 216 

XX. Festivals and Amusements 234 

XXI. Superstitions of the Chinese 247 

XXII. Christian Missions Among the Chinese 26^ 

Conclusion: The Present Condition of China 2S3 

(") 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

\ Mandarin of the Second Class Fro7ittspiece 

Sedan Chair 14 

The Great Wall 25 

Chinese Cooper = 40 

Airing the Birds 54 

The Six Styles of Chinese Characters 59 

Chinese Band of Music 66 

Trial Before a Chinese Court 78 

Punishment of the Wooden Collar 93 

Temple of Heaven, Peking 102 

Buddhist Priest 117 

Temple of the Five Hundred Gods, Canton 129 

Ancestral Hall 143 

Practicing Archery 158 

Chinese Soldiers .... 158 

Chinese Carpenter 172 

Chinese Blacksmith 172 

Chinese Tailor 180 

Chinese Shoemaker 183 

Street Restaurant 186 

Chinese Cart 195 

Tea-curing House 202 

Chinese Loom 205 

Reeling Silk 205 

Chinese Artist 211 

Embroidering 211 

Bride and Bridegroom 215 

A Bridal Procession 226 

City Wall and Canal 233 

Punishment in School 246 

Traveling on a Wheelbarrow 264 

Li Hung Chang 282 

(8) 



INTRODUCTION. 

BY REV. COLLINS DENNY, A.M. 

A QUAINT application of the familiar proverb, 
''One good turn deserves another," is that a benefit 
conferred lays ground for the expectation of an- 
other benefit. It is certainly true that when one 
gives out of his resources what will be for the wel- 
fare of others, the act of giving tends to rouse in 
the giver an interest in those he benefits ; and inter- 
est frequently rouses love, and love is accompanied 
bythe feeling of obligation. The giver thus comes to 
feel himself the debtor to those for whom he has al- 
ready done so much, and the pa3^ment of such debts 
is one of the most unalloyed pleasures of this life. 
The apostle to the Gentiles declares that he was debt- 
or both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, and the 
payment of his debt was doubtless one of the sweet- 
est drops in his cup of joy. No true mother consid- 
ers what her love impels her to do for her child a 
hardship. He who is Lord of all became the servant 
of all, and died for all, because he loved all. 

Dr. Cunnyngham has spent many of the years 
of his long life in work for the 3^oung people, yet 
this book is evidence that he has not lost his in- 
terest in those for whom he has labored. These 
long 3^ears of work give him many qualifications for 
the preparation of a new book intended chiefly for 
young people, not the least of which qualifications 
is his increasing love for his beneficiaries — his de- 
sire to promote their welfare. 

(9) 



lO INTRODUCTION. 

But Dr. Cunnyngham, who has planted so many 
of his days in the Hves of young people, has spe- 
cial qualifications for the work he has undertaken. 
He spent nine years in China, studying the people, 
working for them and with them. It has been said 
that the reason some people wear only one eye- 
glass is because they see through their one glass a 
great deal more than the}^ comprehend ; and a man 
may spend a lifetime in a community and not thor- 
oughly know the communit}^ The knowledge a 
man brings back from a residence in any country 
depends very much on the man. In this instance 
the man is a Christian, a minister of the gospel, a 
former missionary; one who went to the people, 
lived among them, studied their language, yea 
studied them, that he might supplant their error 
with the truth of God. In addition to this long 
personal knowledge of the Chinese, Dr. Cunnyng- 
ham has not only been a close student of the liter- 
ature relating to China and her people, but since 
his return to America he has also kept himself in 
close, living touch with many of the workers in that 
land. The book will be the best evidence that his 
residence in China and his close study of the liter- 
ature of the subject qualified him to write a history 
of the people among whom he so long lived. 

The subject of this book claims attention. It 
is a young peoples' history; but not a history of 
wars, of dynasties, of court gossip. It was a mag- 
nificent advance when historians presented the 
world with the results of their study, not of a ruler 



INTRODUCTION. II 

simply, but of a people. In this instance we are 
given the history of a people singularly ignored 
by the vast majority even of students of history, 
yet of a people from vv^hom the world can learn 
many interesting and profitable lessons. 

All of us have read of nations whose course we 
followed from their strong youth to their graves. 
One by one those nations we are wont to call an- 
cient went out of existence, and this is so constant- 
ly repeated that we are not surprised to be told of 
the islander who shall in some future time sit upon 
the remnants of London Bridge and gaze won- 
deringly on the ruins of the city's great cathe- 
dral. We no more expect, until the exceptional 
case occurs, to find a nation ending indefinitely 
than we expect to find a white crow. It may star- 
tle us to learn that the Chinese have a history of 
a life unbroken for more than four thousand 
years; that this people, substantially as we now find 
them, looked down on the cradle of nations we 
call ancient, nations long since vanished. The 
Greeks were great, in some important points great 
enough to be our recognized masters; but they 
were not great enough to lay the foundations of 
their national life so firmly as to endure. The 
Romans were strong, their legions tramped the 
world almost at will; but they were not strong 
enough to maintain a national life as long as that 
of the Chinese. Some nations have gone down 
because hollow within they could not resist the 
pressure from without; and some have been de- 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

stroyed because of internal conflagration. The 
Chinese show the world a nation not so hollow as 
to have been broken by the strongest pressure to 
which they have so far been subjected from with- 
out, nor so inflammable as to have been consumed 
by the fires kindled from within. The long life of 
this people commands our attention and presents us 
with a problem whose solution may be of the great- 
est profit to ourselves. Is their endurance due to 
some of the elements peculiar to their environment, 
or to their racial traits, or to some of the features 
of their dominant ideals? No single circumstance 
is ever the cause of an event; both the moving ham- 
mer and the whole stone must be included among 
the antecedents some of whose consequents are a 
broken stone and a hammer at rest. The long na- 
tional life of the Chinese is a complex event whose 
cause must be an aggregate of different elements. 
Can we find the tough fibers of this strong cable 
that has enabled the Chinese to ride out the storms 
in which so many nations have been wrecked? 

An isolated people, provided their territory be 
small and their numbers few, may escape for many 
years the disasters that break on the heads of 
others; but in the case of the Chinese we have a 
people w^hose territory is one of the most extensive 
of the earth, and a population far more numerous 
than any other nation. Surely students and readers 
cannot much longer ignore the Chinese ; it is not to 
their credit that they have so long passed them by. 

" The greatest thing on earth is man," because 



INTRODUCTION. I3 

he is truly not a thing, but a person with possibiH- 
ties not yet fully calculated by our finite minds. If 
it be not correct to say the sole " proper study of 
mankind is man,*' it is true that man is a worthy 
study. Heretofore man has not been studied in 
all the variations of circumstances to which he has 
been subjected. He has not been looked at criti- 
cally, lovingly, and exhaustively in what, from our 
point of view, are the narrower opportunities of Chi- 
nese civilization. But how can we expect to make 
valuable inductions about our race, or even com- 
plete statements of observations of the race, while we 
refuse to investigate carefully the phenomena pre- 
sented by the millions in China? They lack many 
of the things esteemed by us to be necessities, yet 
from a worldly standpoint some of them may be 
called happy. Let the powers of the world to 
come take hold upon him, and without denation- 
alizing him regenerate him, then who can doubt 
that the Christian Chinese may have as distinct a 
lesson for the world and as noble a work as the 
Christian Anglo-Saxon? A true appreciation of 
these strangers in the East will lead to a willingness 
to receive from them anything of good they may 
be able to contribute to the true development of the 
world, and to return to them what they lack of the 
greatest elements in our Christian civilization. 

May the young who read this history become so 
interested in the wonderful people of whom it treats 
that when older they may help to solve some of the 
problems the Chinese present to the world. 

Vanderbilt University, April 13, 1896. 




(14) 



A VODNG PEOPLES' HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 



w 



CHAPTER I. 

Antiquity of the Chinese. 

E are indebted to the Arabs for the first defi- 
nite information we have concerning China 
and its inhabitants. In A.D. 850, and also in A.D. 
877, two enterprising Arabian travelers visited the 
eastern coast of Asia, and among other coun- 
tries, then unknown to western nations, which 
they explored was the empire of China. They 
spent some months among that strange people, 
stud3dng their language, customs, and manners, 
their arts and manufactures, and on their return 
to their own country reported what they had seen 
and heard. During their travels they kept a jour- 
nal, which was afterwards translated and pub- 
lished. Their account of China and its people 
agrees so exactly v/ith what we know of them 
to-day, though more than a thousand years have 
passed away, as to give great credibility to their 
narrative. 

In 1274 the great Venetian traveler, Marco Po- 
lo, entered China and spent seventeen years at 
the court of the Mongolian conqueror of China, 
Kublai-Khan. His report of the countr}^, the 

(15) 



i6 



HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 



population, wealth, and resources of China, was 
received with incredulity by his countrymen, and 
by Europeans generally. These doubts have, 
however, long since given place to admiration for 
the simple and faithful statements of the honest 
and truthful Venetian. 

Pope Nicholas, in 1288, sent John De Carvino 
as a missionary to China. He was the first suc- 
cessful agent of the Roman Catholic Church in 
the East, and a man of great learning and zeal. 
His descriptions of China and the Chinese con- 
firm the reports of the Arabian travelers, of Marco 
Polo, and others who visited that country in the 
thirteenth and sixteenth centuries, showing that 
China has changed but little through the ages of 
her long national history. She is substantially 
the same to-day that she was three thousand years 
ago. 

When western scholars first began their re- 
searches into Chinese history, they discovered 
that some native writers claimed a very great an- 
tiquity for their country, even tens of thousands of 
years. This fact was eagerly seized by European 
skeptics as casting discredit upon the compara- 
tively recent account of Moses. They declared 
that Chinese history proved that " the Bible is un- 
reliable;" that "the Bible history is contradict- 
ed by the authentic records of ancient nations;" 
that " according to Chinese chronology the peo- 
ple of China were laying the foundations of their 
empire at the time when, according to Moses, 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CHINESE. I7 

God was creating the heavens and the earth; and 
that the Chinese husbandman was tilhng his farm 
at the time Moses represents Adam as cultivating 
the garden of Eden," etc. 

Subsequent and more careful investigation of 
the subject, however, showed that the Chinese di- 
vide history into three periods : ' ' The Unknown, ' ' 
''The Fabulous," and "The Known." "The 
Unknown " belongs to the age of the gods, and 
has no record in time — its events are known only 
to the gods. " The Fabulous " embraces the pre- 
historic period between the age of the gods and 
the appearance of the first man, or the age of the 
sages. The first period has no chronology, and 
no history. The second period is characterized 
as m^^thological, by reputable Chinese w^riters, in 
which appear the fabulous rulers : ( i ) The ' ' celes- 
tial emperor," who reigned forty-five thousand 
years; (2) His successor, the "terrestrial emper- 
or," who reigned fifty thousand years; (3) After 
these the " human emperor," whose reign lasted 
only eighteen thousand years. The third period 
begins with the first real character in Chinese 
history, the Emperor Yu, and continues down to 
the present time. 

It will thus be seen that the Chinese, like most 
other heathen nations, have a mythological peri- 
od of indefinite duration, covering the unknown 
ages which passed away before the appearance 
of man on the earth; and a chronological ^ej'iod^ 
beginning with the first recorded event in authen- 
2 



l8 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

tic history, and coming on down to the current 
year. No reputable Chinese historian has any 
more respect for the absurd legends of the myth- 
ological age than we have. It was these mytho- 
logical fables that led the early students of Chi- 
nese history into the mistake of supposing that 
there were authentic records in China running 
back into the misty ages of antiquity far beyond 
the beginning of our biblical chronology. The 
European skeptics enjoyed but a short season of 
exultation over the friends of Moses and the Bible. 
It was soon discovered that Chinese history, so far 
from casting discredit upon the record of Moses, 
tends strongly to confirm it. The argument, there- 
fore, against the authenticity of our Scriptures, 
based upon the supposed historical records of Chi- 
na, like a similar argument founded upon the fabu- 
lous legends of the Egyptians and Hindoos some 
years before, had to be abandoned by its advo- 
cates, and Moses is still read and believed by mil- 
lions of intelligent and good people. 

The first real character in Chinese history, ac- 
cording to the most reliable authorities, native and 
foreign, was the Emperor Yu, who began to reign 
somewhere about the year B.C. 2204. The ex- 
act date cannot be ascertained, for at that early 
day there were no written records, and the his- 
torians who subsequently wrote of the beginning 
of their national annals were entirely dependent 
upon tradition, a most unreliable and unsatisfac- 
tory source of information. The earliest authen- 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CHINESE. I9 

tic written history of the Chinese people belongs 
to the age of Confucius, B.C. 549; not that there 
was no written history, or what claimed to be his- 
tory, before that age, but it is to the great sage 
that we are indebted for the first authentic and di- 
gested history of the Chinese people, their cus- 
toms, manners, and institutions. The great Chi- 
nese historian, Chu-foo-tsz, next to Confucius, 
is an authority on all matters of ancient history. 
" From these and other native writers modern 
historians have gathered all they know about the 
early history of China, and they all agree in re- 
garding the Emperor Yu as the first authentic his- 
torical character.'' * 

" If, then," says Dr. Medhurst, " we consider 
Yu to be the first real character in Chinese his- 
tory, and place the beginning of his reign at B.C. 
2204, or one hundred and four years after the 
flood, about the age of Peleg, when the earth 
was divided, we shall find that it gives time for 
such an increase of the human family as would 
admit of emigration, and yet allow for China be- 
ing in such a state of marsh as to require drain- 
ing for the sake of cultivation, which service was 
ascribed to the labors of Yu. Thus the empire 
of China, when deprived of its fabulous and 
traditionary periods, is still very ancient. The 
Chinese must have branched off from the ""reat 
human family immediately after the Dispersion 
(Genesis x.), and, traveling to the farther East, 

* Medhurst: "State and Prospects of China." 



20 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

settled down on the borders of the Yellow River, 
coeval with the establishment of the Babylonian 
and Egyptian monarchies."* Thus, ere Rome 
was founded or Trov was taken, before Thebes 
and Nineveh were erected into kingdoms, China 
was a settled state, under a regular form of gov- 
ernment, with customs and institutions similar in 
many respects to those it now possesses. 

If Confucius were to revisit his native land to- 
day, he would find things generally pretty much 
as he left them more than two thousand years ago. 
He could read the last book published, if not the 
last bulletin posted. He would find hundreds of 
thousands, if not millions, of scholars w^ho could 
repeat verhati7n et literatim all he ever wrote; 
and he would also find himself still enthroned as 
"the peerless and unapproachable master," whom 
millions worship at myriads of altars. 

The question has been asked again and again, 
but never satisfactorily answered: "How is it 
that China has thus lived through so many cen- 
turies, successfully resisting the laws of national 
decay, while every other nation that began its 
course with her has long since disappeared from 
the face of the earth, or been so changed as 
to lose its national identity?" Babylon, Egypt, 
Nineveh, Greece, and Rome, once the contem- 
poraries of China, lie buried in the dust of the 
dead past; yet China survives in all her original 

*See Parke's Historj of China, 1588; Chinese Repository, 
Vol. X., No. 3. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CHINESE. 21 

integrity, the one lone monument of antiquity on 
the plains of time that has not been destroyed or 
dismantled by the hand of decay or the storms of 
revolution. 

What has China done for the world to entitle 
her to such distinction among the nations? What 
promise does she give of service to mankind? Her 
great longevity is as much an historical enig- 
ma as the preservation of the Jews through so 
many ages of national vicissitude. But we know 
what the Jews have done for the human race. 
They have preserved through the dark centuries 
of the past a knowledge of the true God, his word 
and his worship, and above all they have given 
the world its Messiah. Besides, many believe 
that they are yet destined to bless the world as 
"the chosen people of God." China, on the 
contrary, has been atheistic and idolatrous, has 
dishonored God and despised his law. She has 
lived in wantonness and pride through all her gen- 
erations, and in her self-sufficiency has hated and 
scorned all other nations. She has neither feared 
God nor regarded her fellow-man, and now in her 
withered old age still clings to the traditions and 
customs of her earl}^ days ; she is still selfish and 
egotistical, arrogant and insolent toward other na- 
tions. 

Some writers have attributed the great longevity 
of China to natural causes, such as " geograph- 
ical position, the generally favorable climate, the 
average fertility of the soil, great facility of in- 



22 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ternal commerce," etc.* Some have attributed 
it to moral causes, such as the fact that the Chi- 
nese have never deified vice in any form; others, 
to the observance of the fifth commandment. 

None of these suggestions seem to be entirely 
satisfactory. Other countries have enjoyed as 
great natural advantages as China, as friendly 
climates, as fertile soils, as good water, and all 
other favorable conditions, and yet they have not 
passed the average age of the nations. As to the 
moral causes — that the Chinese have never deified 
vice in an}^ form. In this matter they can claim 
only a limited negative virtue, for they have en- 
shrined in their hearts and practiced in their lives 
all that Bacchus and Venus represent. There is 
not a more sensual people on earth than the Chi- 
nese, their own writers being witnesses. There 
is not a sin mentioned by St. Paul, in the cata- 
logue of vices enumerated in the first chapter of 
Romans, of which they are not guilty. I do not 
say all the Chinese are thus guilty, but the sins re- 
ferred to are practiced more or less by them as a 
people. 

That the Chinese do, in a sense, observe the 
fifth commandment is true — they do reverence 
their parents, and after their death they worship 
them ; but they know nothing about the command 
of God requiring children to honor their fathei 
and mother, and do not do it as an act of obedi- 
ence to God, but as an act of idolatry. They 

*Sir John Davis. 



ANTIQUITY OF THE CHINESE. 23 

have made reverence for their parents an occa- 
sion of sin. Ancestral worship is the most uni- 
versal form of idolatry in China. All worship at 
the ancestral shrine, the old and the young, the 
great and the small, the rich and the poor, from 
the emperor on the Dragon Throne to the beggar in 
the street — all worship their dead ancestors. They 
may worship at no other altar, but all worship 
here. That this universal sin could become a 
reason why God should specially bless the Chinese 
as a nation, and preserve them through so many 
ages, is a species of logic I cannot indorse. Of 
all the obstacles in the way of the Christian mis- 
sionary in China, the most formidable is ancestral 
worship. The Chinese will give up all other 
forms of idolatry before they will this. To neg- 
lect the tombs of their ancestors is an act of in- 
gratitude and sacrilege at which they obstinately 
revolt. 

That China is the oldest nation in the world there 
can be no reasonable doubt, but what causes have 
operated to preser^^e her tlirough so man}^ centu- 
ries we are unable to say. Revolution after revo- 
lution has swept over the land, and her dynasties 
have been changed twenty-five times, and two hun- 
dred and forty-three emperors have occupied the 
Dragon Throne ; but still China remains substan- 
tially the same through all these changes that she 
was when Abraham was in Chaldea, or Joseph in 
Eg3'pt. From the first emperor, Yu, to the pres- 
ent " year of grace '" ( 1896) is four thousand and 



24 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

one hundred years. What great events in human 
history have taken place during these forty cen- 
turies I The Chinese were Hving where they are 
now, and quietly cultivating the soil, or fighting 
the "barbarians," when Israel marched out of 
Egypt; when God gave the law to Moses amid 
the awful scenes in Sinai; when David was king; 
when the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon ; when 
Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusalem ; when Alexander 
conquered Egypt; when America was discovered; 
and — to-day. We dare not predict anything for 
the future. Recent events have awakened a deep 
interest throughout the Christian world in the for- 
tunes of China. War with Japan, internal com- 
motions, foreign complications, and national imbe- 
cility seem to threaten the integrity of this ancient 
empire. 



ill^llllp'l 

IfM I I' 1 ill! 1 ' 




CHAPTER II. 
Geography of China. 

THE present empire of China consists of five 
great divisions: Manchooria, Mongolia, Tur- 
kestan, Thibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, or 
China Proper. It is to the last that reference is 
usually made when speaking or writing of China. 
The others are provinces of great extent, but thinl}^ 
inhabited, and of a low grade of civilization. 

Manchooria is the home of the Manchoo Tar- 
tars, a half-civilized and half-nomadic race, which 
has attracted the notice of foreigners chiefly be- 
cause of its connection with China. The present 
imperial dynasty is descended from the Manchoos. 

Mongolia lies immediately north of the Eight- 
een Provinces, and is a wild and desert country, 
consisting mainly of barren wastes. The inhab- 
itants are roving nomads, who live in tents, and 
follow their flocks as they wander from place to 
place. They are devout Lamaistic Buddhists, fierce 
and fanatical. 

Turkestan is situated in the northwestern bor- 
ders of the Eighteen Provinces, and is inhabited 
by a settled Turkish race of Mohammedans. It 
contains the two celebrated cities of Cashgar and 
Yarkand, with several smaller cities. 

Thibet is west of China Proper, and is inhabited 
(26) 



GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA. 2^ 

by a settled people, and is the headquarters of the 
Lamaistic form of Buddhism. The chief or high 
priest of this strange sect claims to be the incar- 
nate Buddha. The capital of Thibet is Lassa. 

These four great divisions of the Chinese em- 
pire are not inhabited by the Chinese, but by sep- 
arate and distinct races, each race speaking its own 
language, and distinguished by its own peculiar 
national characteristics, customs, and manners. 
The Chinese speak of them as " outside the gates" 
— that is, outside of China Proper. 

As the following pages will be devoted to a 
brief description of China and the Chinese people, 
no further notice will be taken of the provincial 
dependencies. The reader will please therefore 
remember that what is hereafter said about China 
refers to the Eighteen Provinces, or what is known 
as China Proper. 

China is situated on the eastern coast of Asia, and 
contains about one-half of the whole territory of the 
empire. It is 1^474 miles in length, and about 1,355 
miles in breadth, with a coast line of 2,500 miles. 
Its area is 1,399,609 square miles, "comprising 
within its limits every variety of soil and climate ; 
watered by large rivers, and producing within its 
borders everything necessary for the support and 
comfort of man." * 

Most of the great empires of Asia extend along 
its southern border, chiefly upon the shores of the 
Indian Ocean, and are bounded on the north by the 

*'* Middle Kinedom." 



28 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

snowy peaks and pastoral wilds of Tartary. China, 
on the contrary, is situated on the Pacific, at the 
extremity of the Asiatic continent. The climate 
is generally salubrious, but, like all other coun- 
tries situated on the eastern side of a great conti- 
nent, is subject to extremes of heat and cold at 
different seasons of the year, not always corre- 
sponding with the degrees of latitude. Thus in the 
northern part of China the mercury often rises to 
80° and 90^, and in the southern part frequently 
falls below zero in the winter.* 

The whole surface of the country is diversified 
by mountain ranges, extensive plains, and undu- 
lating highlands. The lofty mountains which wall 
in the territory of Thibet and Tartary as they enter 
China sink down into elevations of moderate alti- 
tude. Two great rivers, the Yang-tse (child of the 
ocean) and the Wong-hoo, or Yellow River, cor- 
responding to the two great rivers of our country, 
roll through the land from west to east, fertilizing 
extensive valleys, and furnishing the means of 
trade and travel for the millions of central and 
eastern China. There are other rivers that afford 
facilities for inland navigation, which, with the 
Yang-tse and Wong-hoo, give the people of China 
unequaled advantages in water ways. There are 
several lakes in China, but none of sufficient size 
or commercial importance to require special men- 
tion in this place. 

The Grand Canal is a stupendous work, 

* Sir J ohn Davis : " Middle Kingdom." 



GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA. 29 

equaled only by the Great Wall of China. By 
means of its connections with the rivers which flow 
into it, an almost entire water communication is 
completed across the country from Tien-Tsm, 
near Peking in the north, to Hang-Chow in the 
south, a distance of six hundred geographical 
miles, or "fort}^ days' travel," as the Chinese esti- 
mate its length. It is sometimes said to be fifteen 
hundred miles long, but this is in Chinese miles, or 
lee, which is only about one-third of our mile. It 
is a great artificial river, costing millions of dollars 
to construct, and millions more to keep it in re- 
pair, and therefore entitled to a place in any de- 
scription of the physical geography of China. It 
crosses the Yellow River about seventy miles from 
its mouth, and for ninety miles (between the 
Yang-tse and Yellow River) runs parallel with the 
latter, being carried through all this distance upon 
a mound of earth not less than twenty feet above 
the level of the surrounding country. The em- 
bankment of earth on each side of the canal is 
held in place by strong stone walls, or heavy 
earthen banks. Its depth varies from a few feet 
to several fathoms, and its width from one hundred 
feet to half a mile, according to the character of 
the country through which it passes. Stone abut- 
ments and floodgates are used to regulate the flow 
of the water, and occur at irregular distances ac- 
cording to the inequalities of the surface of the land. 
Hundreds of thousands of men were employed for 
an indefinite time on this great work. If the age 



30 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

in which this great national work was completed, 
and the character of the princes who planned it, 
be considered, few labors of human hands in any 
country in the world can be compared to it for ex- 
tent and usefulness. The Grand Canal passes 
through some of the most beautiful scenery in 
China — rich valleys covered with highly cultivated 
farms, villages, hamlets, and cities, tea gardens, 
mulberry orchards, peach orchards, and all the va- 
riety of rural scenery to be found in any country. 
Again, it follows along the foot of an extensive 
mountain range, and winds its way through natu- 
ral passes into the plains beyond, then on by Soo- 
chow, Nankin, and the "Golden Isle" to the ter- 
minus. As it approaches the province of Canton 
in southern China, its way has been cut by im- 
mense labor through a range of mountains which 
separates the province of Kiang-Si from Canton. 
This part of the work is said to have been done by 
an individual during the Tang dynasty, more than 
a thousand years ago.* 

The Great Wall of China deserves to be 
considered in a geographical point of view, and 
may therefore be noticed in this connection. It 
was built by the first universal monarch of China, 
more than two thousand years ago. It bounds the 
whole north of China, running along the frontiers 
of three provinces. The emperors of the Ming 
dynasty built an additional inner wall near to Pe- 
king on the west. The body of the wall consists 

* Davis: "^Middle Kingdom," 



GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA. 3 1 

of an earthen mound, supported on each side by 
strong stone and brick masonry. The average 
height is about twenty-five feet. In some places it 
rises only a few feet above the level of the ground, 
as on rugged elevations where access to it is diffi- 
cult, and in other places to fifty and sixty feet. 
The thickness of the wall at the base averages 
twenty-five or thirty feet, and at the top fifteen 
feet. Towers rise at frequent intervals, and are 
sometimes forty feet square at the base and thirty 
at the top. It ascends the highest mountains, and 
descends into the deepest valleys, crossing over 
rivers, and stretching its great length for fifteen 
hundred miles, more or less. Authorities differ 
as to the actual length of this artificial barrier, 
intended to protect the peaceable inhabitants of 
China from the incursions of the savage barbari- 
ans on their northern borders. 

The coast of China, south of the Shan-Toong 
province, except at the mouth of the two great riv- 
ers and the well-known commercial harbors, is 
generally bold and rocky, and is lined throughout 
its whole extent, from Hainan to the mouth of the 
Yang-tse, with multitudes of islands and rocky 
islets. The interior of the Eighteen Provinces is 
divided into the mountainous, the hilly country, 
and the Great Plain. 

The soil of China is generally fertile, and ren- 
ders a rich return of harvests to even the unskilled 
labor of the ic^norant natives. It is also well wa- 
tered, and in some parts covered by noble forests. 



32 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

In the more densely inhabited districts of the ccun- 
try, however, the forests have disappeared, and 
timber is consequently very scarce and costly, com- 
mon firewood selling for two cents a pound in some 
parts of the empire. I do not remember, during 
my residence in China, to have ever paid less for 
the pine wood used for cooking. Originally the 
country was well wooded. We find there to-day, 
especially in the mountains, the oak in all its vari- 
eties, the black walnut, camphor tree, cedar, cy- 
press, sandalwood, ebony, willow, chestnut, per- 
simmon, hickory, hazelnut, mango, pineapple, or- 
ange, pear, peach, plum, apricot. Other trees and 
fruits common in the same latitudes all over the 
world are indigenous in China. The mulberry is 
extensively cultivated in the silk-growing districts, 
the leaves being used as food for the silk worms. 

The bamboo is so universal, and used for so 
many purposes, that it might with propriety be 
called the national plant. It is cultivated about 
villages and hamlets for its beauty and as a shade 
tree. The tender shoots are used for food by 
the natives, and in taste so much resemble the 
young Indian corn of the West that foreigners re- 
gard them a delicacy, and in the season have them 
on the table as we do the ** roasting ear." The 
eld roots are used as material for ornaments, and 
are often exquisitely carved into many beautiful 
shapes. The stalks of the smaller species are used 
for canes, umbrella handles, spears, and many 
other purposes. The larger kind is used in build- 



GEOGRAPHY OF CHINA. 33 

ing houses, making fences, chairs, tables, and 
for a variety of purposes too numerous to men- 
tion here. It is a beautiful growth, resembling in 
stem and folia.ge the larger species of cane that 
grows on our river banks, but much larger, attain- 
ing a height in some places of from fifty to seventy- 
five feet, and a diameter of four to six inches. 
The bamboo is in China what the palm tree is in 
India, a universal convenience. 

There are many features of the physical ge- 
ography of China which remind an American of 
his own native land. The two countries occupy 
nearly the same relative position on the map of the 
northern hemisphere. The coast lines, the moun- 
tain ranges, and the great rivers that flow through 
the land bear a general resemblance which the 
careful observer will not fail to notice. The gen- 
eral average of temperature is said to be a little 
lower in China than in America. The climate is 
therefore pretty much the same in both countries. 

China is rich in minerals — iron, copper, gold, 
silver, and all other mineral products common 
to our country and Europe. There are immense 
coal fields, but imperfectly developed. In this, as 
in other things, the Chinese are without a knowl- 
edge of practical science, and therefore without 
the means of developing fully the rich treasures 
locked up in the vaults of nature. They deal 
onlv with the surface of thino;s, and leave un- 
touched the vast wealth that lies beneath, 
3 



CHAPTER III. 

The Population of China. 

THE population of China is estimated by for- 
eigners an3^where from three hundred and 
fifty million to four hundred and twenty million. 
Recent statistics show that the larger number is 
probably the correct one, or at least nearest the 
truth. Whatever the exact figures may be, it is 
safe to say that one-third of the human race live 
in the dominions of the present Manchoo emperor 
of China. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, for the human 
mind to conceive of the vast multitude of men, 
women, and children who live in China to-day. 
They are more than the combined populations of 
Europe, Africa, and the entire continent of Amer- 
ica! Dr. Culbertson, in his little book on China, 
indulges his fancy in an attempt to array the mil- 
lions of China in a procession, which in its grand 
march passes before the imagination of the reader. 
He sa.js : " Suppose this mighty multitude to march 
in procession before you. Place them in single file, 
six feet apart, and let them march at the rate of 
thirty miles a day, stopping to rest on the Sab- 
bath. Day after day you watch the moving col- 
i;mn, and day after da}^ the long march continues. 
The head of the column pushes on toward the 
(34) 



THE POPULATION OF CHINA. 35 

setting sun. Now bridge the Pacific; bridge the 
Atlantic. And now the Pacific is crossed, but still 
the long procession moves on, stretching away 
over high mountains and sunny plains and broad 
rivers, through China and India and the Euro- 
pean kingdoms, and on again over the stormy 
bosom of the Atlantic. But the circuit of the 
earth itself affords not standing room. The end- 
less column must double upon itself, and double 
again and again, and shall girdle the earth eighteen 
times before the great reservoir which supplies 
these marvelous multitudes is exhausted. Weeks 
and months and years roll away, and still they come 
— men, women, and children. Since the march 
began the little bo}^ has become a man, and yet on 
and on they come in unfailing numbers. Not un- 
til the end of forty-one years will the last one of 
that long procession have passed." 

Some confusion in estimating the population of 
China has arisen from the fact that the whole em- 
pire is included in the estimate by one writer, and 
only the Eighteen Provinces by another. If we 
include all the people living under the present 
emperor of China, the immense population does 
not seem so incredible, though still largely beyond 
that of any other nation, ancient or modern. If we 
include in our estimate only the Eighteen Prov- 
inces, the number is, of course, less; but the 
bulk of the population of the whole empire live in 
China Proper, and are Chinese. Some writers 
have questioned the larger estimates of the popu- 



36 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

lation of China because, they say, so many mil- 
lions could not find room to stand on the limited 
area, and certainly could not obtain subsistence. 
The fact remains, however, that these millions do 
find standing room and enough to eat. China 
could double her population and still have room 
and food enough. Her territory is vast, and 
the productions of the soil almost unlimited. Be- 
sides, she has an inexhaustible supply of fish in 
her rivers, lakes, and canals, with an extensive sea- 
coast, giving her access to the boundless treasures 
of the ocean. China is rich enough in material 
resources to take care of her immense population, 
and to maintain an extensive export trade with 
other nations. 

The stranger who visits China is impressed by 
the large number of populous cities thickly scat- 
tered over the land, and by the numerous villages 
that surround these cities. Take, for example, 
the district in which the city of Shanghai is situ- 
ated. It contains no less than thirty large cities 
and towns within a territory not larger than some 
counties in Virginia — a territor}^ twenty-seven miles 
long and twenty-six miles broad, with a popula- 
tion of several million. The citv of Soochow, 
some eighty miles from Shanghai, has a popula- 
tion of two million, while the surrounding country 
is covered with cities, towns, villages, and hamlets. 
About twenty-five miles from Shanghai is a city of 
probably five hundred thousand inhabitants, and 
not far from it several cities of one hundred thou- 



The population of china 37 

sand people. So it is all over the more densely 
populated parts of China. In the Eighteen Prov- 
inces there are one thousand seven hundred and 
twenty districts, wdth a thousand cities, ranging 
in population from one hundred thousand to three 
hundred thousand, and one three million. Peking, 
the capital, has three million ; Hang-Chow and Can- 
ton, more than one million each. The great city of 
-Woo-Chang, with its two neighboring cities, has 
four or five million. 

The Chinese swarm everywhere : in cities, towns, 
villages, and hamlets; in all the open places of 
the country; on all the highways and byways; 
on the land, on the water, on mountains, and 
in the valleys. " They are always near you ; they 
are on your right hand and on your left hand, 
and in whatever direction you look they are al- 
ways in sight." They are an industrious peo- 
ple, always busy, always moving. Even the beg- 
gars pursue their calling with a persistent busi- 
ness air. On every hand the scenes of a busy life 
meet your eye. If you would escape from the 
noise and babble of the multitude, you must retire 
to the solitude of the mountains. Ever^^where 
around you, in the more populous places, are the 
abodes of the living and the tombs of the dead. 

The cities of the dead occupy much space, and 
often intrude upon the abodes of the living. The 
poor cannot always afford to bur}^ their dead, and 
therefore keep them in their houses, or place them 
in some open space, until they can pay the ex- 



38 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

penses of a cheap burial, or leave them thus to de- 
cay in the open air. Of course such scenes are 
witnessed only about large cities, where land is 
very expensive, and where the very poorest of the 
people live and die. 

Dr. Williams savs in res^ard to the credibilitv of 
the larger estimates of the population of China: 
"The Chinese people are doubtless one of the 
most conceited nations on earth, but with all their 
vanity thev have never bethought themselves of 
rating their population twenty-five or thirty per 
cent, more than they suppose it to be, for the 
purpose of exalting themselves in the eyes of for- 
eigners or in their own. Except in the case of 
the commissioner who informed Lord Macartney, 
none of the estimates were made for or intended 
to be known by foreigners. The distances given 
in miles between places in Chinese itineraries cor- 
respond very well with the real distances ; the num- 
ber of districts, towns, and villages in the depart- 
ments and provinces, as stated in their local and 
general topographical works, agree with the actual 
examination so far as it can be made. Why should 
their censuses be charged with fraud and gross 
error, when, however much we mav doubt them, 
we cannot disprove them, and when the weight of 
evidence derived from actual obsen^ation rather 
confirms them than otherwise?" 

If all who have lived and died in China were 
enumerated, figures would fail to express the vast 
sum. The necropolis of China greatly exceeds 



THE POPULATION OF CHINA. 39 

the present population of the world. And they 
are still increasing, and still dying. 

The great problem which the Christian philan- 
thropist should contemplate with profound concern 
is the moral and religious condition of the millions 
of China. We see the long procession, which Dr. 
Culbertson so graphically describes, on its solemn 
march to eternity, going down to the grave with- 
out hope. How little relatively has been done by 
the Churches of Christendom to save them ! 



CHAPTER IV. 
The People ok China. 

THE original seat of the Chinese people was in the 
great plain of northern China, in what is now 
known as the Province of Chih-H, not far from 
Peking, the present capital of the empire. How 
they came to be there it is impossible to ascertain. 
Chinese historians seem satisfied with the asser- 
tion that their people have always lived where 
they are now, the only place on the face of the 
earth fit for the residence of the highest order 
of man. They say " China is the only civilized 
country in the world; all other people are barba- 
rians,"' who have no history worth recording, and 
who live on barren islands off the coast of China. 
Of course there are Chinese who know better, but 
such is the popular belief, founded on immemorial 
tradition. 

The average Chinese looks upon Europeans and 
Americans as belonging to an inferior race. To him 
there are, and always have been, but two classes of 
men in the world — the Chinese and the barbarians. 
It is a little amusing to know that the half-naked 
creature that performs the most menial offices for 
you, and would serve you in any capacity for a few 
cash, nevertheless regards you as his inferior. The 
same arrogance and silly self-conceit which have 
led Chinese historians to ignore all people besides 

(41) 



42 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

themselves, or to characterize them as barbarians 
unworth}^ of notice, has induced entire silence in 
regard to their own origin. The first man that 
ever lived was a Chinese, and from him the race 
has descended. Where he originated we are not 
informed. " He made the sun, moon, and stars, 
and chiseled all things out of the vast masses of 
granite floating in space. He was assisted *in his 
stupendous labors by the dragon, the phenix, and 
the tortoise." After eighteen thousand years of 
toil " the heavens rose, and the earth spread out 
and thickened; and all things being made, the 
first man died for the benefit of his handiwork." 
After his death his head became mountains, his 
breath winds and clouds, and his voice thun- 
der, etc.* Such was the first Chinese man. How 
grotesque these absurd myths ! How greatly in- 
ferior to the Greek fables, or Egyptian symbols! 
How sublime and beautiful the account which 
Moses gives of the creation of the heavens and 
the earth, of the first man, and the beginning of 
human history ! 

The Chinese are doubtless the descendants of 
Shem, the eldest son of Noah. It is not unrea- 
sonable to suppose that the sons of Noah, learn- 
ing from their father that the world was without 
inhabitants, and guided by a divine impulse, be- 
gan to colonize as soon as they began to form 
families. The first three centuries would be time 
enough for some of them to reach the eastern 

*" Middle Kingdom." 



THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 43 

coast of Asia and settle down in the land of 
Sinim, or China. They may have passed from 
Persia through central Asia and down the Yellow 
River to the Great Plain. From this locality they 
spread south and west as they increased in num- 
bers until thev covered the plains of central and 
southern China, where they have made their per- 
manent home. Thus, from the beginning of their 
national historv, the Chinese have been isolated, 
and left to develop a unique character, uninflu- 
enced by association with other people. Out of 
the line of conquest, away from other great na- 
tions, they have escaped the dreadful scourge of 
foreign wars, and being superior in numbers and 
intelligence to the rude tribes on their borders, 
have lived in comparative peace, and in great na- 
tional prosperity. Their peculiarities as a people 
may be attributed to the character of their indig- 
enous civilization. Foreign influences have had 
little or nothing to do with forming their political 
and social institutions. They have borrowed 
nothing from other nations ; have no models but 
those of their own ancestors, and have therefore 
studied themselves, imitated themselves, and re- 
peated themselves, generation after generation, 
through forty centuries. 

The physical characteristics of the Chinese have 
been thus described b}' Dr. Williams: *' They are 
in person between the agile Hindoo and the mus- 
cular and fleshv European; their form is well 
built and svmmetrical. Their color is a brunette, 



44 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

or sickly white, rather approaching to a yellowish 
tint than a florid, but this yellow has been much 
exaggerated; in the south they are swarthy but 
not black, never becoming as dark as the Portu- 
guese. The hair of the head is lank, black, and 
coarse. It is always black and defiant. The eyes 
are invariably black, and apparently oblique. The 
cheek bones are high, and the outline of the face 
invariably remarkably round. The nose is rather 
small, much depressed, and nearly even with the 
face at the root, and wide at the extremity; lips 
thicker than Europeans ; the hands are small, and 
the lower limbs better proportioned than among 
any other Asiatics. The height is about the same 
as that of Europeans." 

Between the provinces of Kwang-se and Kwei- 
chow in central China there are several tribes 
called Meaou-tsze, or " children of the soil," who 
have maintained their independence of the gov- 
ernment for hundreds of years, perhaps thou- 
sands, for little is known of their history. They 
are supposed to be the aborigines of that part of 
the country. In many respects they are unlike 
the Chinese ; they are really a different race of 
people, and by many believed to be older than the 
Chinese. This, however, can hardly be true, for 
all history points to the Chinese as the original 
inhabitants of central China. The Meaou-tsze are 
a strange race of hardy and brave nomads, liv- 
ing in a wild and barbarous state in the midst of 
Chinese civilization. During the Taiping rebel- 



THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 45 

lion they were said to sympathize with the rebels, 
though they took no part in the war. They hate 
the present Manchoo dynasty. 

There are provincial peculiarities that distin- 
guish the inhabitants of one province from another, 
but they are not sufficiently marked to affect the 
uniformity of the national character; they are all 
Chinese who live within the Eighteen Provinces, 
except perhaps the ]Meaou-tsze, to whom reference 
is made in the preceding paragraph; and the fol- 
lowinof delineation of character is therefore intend- 
ed to apply to all the Chinese. 

A just estimate of Chinese character, by a for- 
eigner, is perhaps an impossibility: we have not 
the information concerning the private, domestic, 
and social life of all classes necessary to a full 
and fair judgment. Official intercourse with them 
discloses only their diplomatic shrewdness and ut- 
ter want of principle. All is artificial and false. 
To deceive and mislead — to conceal their real sen- 
timents and hide their ultimate purpose — seems 
to be a fundamental rule of action when dealing 
with the representatives of foreign governments. 
Commercial intercourse with them displays the 
same characteristics, modified by the laws of 
trade. As to the domestic life of the people, we 
know comparatively little. They are shielded from 
the vulgar gaze of foreigners by doors that remain 
barred and bolted against us, except in the case 
of the very poor and the few families connected 
with Christian missionaries. We now and then 



46 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

hear of a foreigner who has been admitted with- 
in "the gates of a home," but not to the inner 
apartments. 

Our knowledge, therefore, of the real charac- 
ter of the Chinese is imperfect, not only because 
limited to mere superficial intercourse, but be- 
cause what we see is artificial, and much of it 
false. *' Things are not what they seem" — in 
China. Such at least was my experience during 
a residence of nine years in their midst. I speak 
of the people as a mass, not of the Christian con- 
verts, for they are few in number and not rep- 
resentatives of their heathen countrymen. They 
have abandoned the ''old ways," and adopted the 
habits of a better life. 

I shall notice first the more commendable traits 
of Chinese character; and secondly, those which 
are characteristic of the worst side of their nature. 
They have been misrepresented b}^ two classes of 
writers; one extolling them as excelling the rest of 
the world in all the qualities which constitute na- 
tional greatness, especially in the science of good 
government, in practical and useful knowledge, 
and even in morality. We are told that " the Chi- 
nese have demonstrated that Christianity is not 
necessary to the highest civilization, for they have 
attained the most advanced culture without any 
knowledge of our Scriptures or creeds." Anoth- 
er class of writers denounces them as among the 
lowest specimens of the human race, hardly above 
the beasts of the field. Both estimates are errone- 



THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 47 

ous, for the Chinese are not the highest order of 
civiHzed men, nor are they the lowest order of an- 
imal creation. 

The fermaiiency of Chinese institutions certainly 
speaks well for them. If they have not solved the 
great problem of human government, they have 
succeeded in preserving intact through thousands 
of years, far beyond that of any other nation, 
their form of government and their national in- 
stitutions. The successive irruptions of northern 
barbarians have never destroyed or materially 
modified their original civil constitution. China 
is to-day politically what she was four thousand 
years ago. 

The Chinese are an industrious, quiet, peace- 
loving people. They reverence age, and consider 
themselves bound to absolute obedience to parents. 
Thus the young are under the control of the oldest 
surviving heads of families, and the ignorant and 
inexperienced are guided by the more mature 
judgment of their elders. This habit of subordi- 
nation, and the consequent control of their ruder 
passions, tend to render crimes of violence less 
frequent than in almost any other country. Un- 
der real or supposed injur}^ however, they are 
sometimes revengeful and cruel, and not at all 
scrupulous as to how they avenge themselves. 
They are kind to the poor, and in a measure be- 
nevolent. Buddhism has exerted a good influence 
upon them in this respect. There are homes for 
the aged and infirm who have no living relatives 



48 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

to care for them, or means to take care of them- 
selves. I once saw an asylum for homeless and 
friendless cats, founded by a devout Buddhist wom- 
an. There are foundling as3^1ums, free dispensa- 
ries where medicine is furnished to the poor, in 
some of the large cities of the empire. In seasons 
of famine and of general public distress, wealthy 
Chinese give liberally for the relief of the suffer- 
ing. Heathenism has, however, nowhere provid- 
ed asylums for the comfort of the unfortunate; 
and we must therefore infer that the asylums in 
China are the fruit of Christian teaching, perhaps 
of the early Romish missionaries. The Chinese 
are not naturally humane or philanthropic. 

They have attained a good degree of security 
of life and propert}^. The various classes are 
linked together in a remarkable manner by the 
diffusion of education and the personal rights to 
property, the equality of competition for office, 
the just reward which industry receives, a gen- 
eral distribution of food and clothing, and the 
protection and security of home life. Even their 
idolatry, degrading and abominable as it is, is less 
coarse and sensual than that of most other hea- 
then nations. The}^ have never deified the beast- 
ly and inhuman vices which characterize some 
pagan systems of religion. The public respect 
shown to common decency in dress and manner 
is commendable. 

The marriage relation is respected in China, 
and though polygamy exists throughout the em- 



THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 49 

pire, no man can legally have more than one wife. 
The children are trained to obedience, to respect 
age, to good manners, and to be industrious. 
They are also taught to reverence the gods from 
their infancy, and to worship them at home and in 
the temples. In China, as in other countries, the 
women are more religiously inclined than the men, 
and the mothers are therefore the religious teach- 
ers of the children. Corrupt and debasing as 
Chinese heathenism is, it is better than atheism, 
and many of the lessons inculcated are far above 
the practice of the average devotee. 

The Chinese appear to the foreign observer 
to be a cheerful and contented people, and in a 
measure they are. Their cheerfulness, however, 
is more seeming than real. They are phlegmatic 
in temperament, cold and dull, and therefore not 
easily excited. Besides, they are fatalists, and be- 
lieve that "whatever is to be will be " in spite of 
all that men may do. They also believe that the 
state of things surrounding them as a people is 
the very best that could possibly be ; hence their 
intense conservatism, which gives to their con- 
duct and conversation the appearance of content- 
ment. They bear misfortune with apparent for- 
titude, but it is rather a hopeless apathy than a 
cheerful submission. It is a silent acquiescence 
in the inevitable. It must be, then why complain 
or struggle against it? 

Other commendable qualities of the Chinese 
might be mentioned, but the limited space as- 
4 



50 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

signed to this subject forbids further remark at 
present. They have another side to their char- 
acter, which must be noticed in this connection. 

The inordinate self-conceit of the Chinese may 
not be classed among their gross vices, but it is 
certainly a very offensive trait of their character. 
The}" claim too much. We may allow them to be 
a very great people, but we cannot permit them to 
monopolize all the wisdom and knowledge in the 
world, and to be the only civilized nation in exist- 
ence. We must protest against the arrogance with 
which they assert their claims to superiority. Their 
supercilious treatment of foreigners is unpardona- 
ble. 

Among the objectionable traits of Chinese char- 
acter which an Englishman or American observes 
with special disapproval is their want of truthful- 
ness. The}^ seem to prefer any form of speech 
that does not require a plain, straightforward state- 
ment of the truth ; and this is not confined to their 
intercourse with foreigners, but is common among 
themselves. This feature of their character has 
done more to lower them in the eyes of Christen- 
dom than perhaps any other. Recent events con- 
nected with the murder of missionaries in China, 
and the official investigations which followed, fur- 
nish new evidence of the utter mendacity of the 
people and their rulers. They misrepresented the 
facts in every instance. Diplomatic and official 
intercourse with foreign nations has always been 
characterized by the same vice on the part of the 



THE PEOPLE OF CHINA. 5 1 

Chinese crovernment. Social and commercial life 
is disfiefured bv this hateful sin : and ^vhat seems 
to us strange, they feel no shame when detected 
in a barefaced falsehood. 

The moral teachings of Confucius have done 
much, doubtless, to regulate and restrain the 
coarse and savage nature of the Chinaman, but 
his system provides no radical remedy for sin. It 
may give an outside varnish to character, but can- 
not change the heart. Christianity alone has pov^^- 
er to thoroughlv purifv the fountain of life so that 
the stream mav be pure. 

Thieving is common in China. Indeed, it is re- 
duced to a science, and the thieves are regularly 
organized, having their chiefs and subordinate of- 
ficers, with rules and regulations for their govern- 
ment. Thev are perhaps the most expert pick- 
pockets in the world. !Manv amusing stories are 
told of their adroitness. They are severely pun- 
ished when broucrht before the mandarins, if thev 
happen not to have •* a friend at court;" but it is 
said that the police find it to their interest to ignore 
their existence. Lying and cheating are common 
among merchants and tradesmen. Every man is 
supposed to be competent to take care of his own 
interests. 

There are many other vices of the Chinese 
which might be enumerated, but I have said 
enough perhaps in this connection to serve my 
present purpose. They are not the only sinners in 
the world. We can see much evil without going to 



52 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

China. And we should not forget that the Chi- 
nese exhibit many commendable qualities. An- 
other thing also we should bear in mind : they are 
heathens, ignorant of the divine morality of the 
gospel, and without the inspiration of lofty motives 
or noble ideals. Their civilization belongs to a 
rude and barbarous age. Their historic models 
were semi-barbarians, and the}^ have learned little 
or nothing from other nations. 

The Chinese present a strange mixture of char- 
acter. If there is something to approve in them, 
there is much to condemn. They have glaring 
vices, and they have commendable virtues. We 
iind ostentatious kindness and secret hatred, civil- 
ity and rudeness, partial invention and servile imi- 
tation, industry and waste, sycophancy and inde- 
pendence, strangely blended. We must not judge 
them too severely, but remember always who they 
are — pagans, Asiatic pagans, Mongolian Asiatic 
pagans. The Chinese who have come to our 
countr}^ are not fair specimens. They belong to 
the grade of common laborers and small trades- 
men. 

There are provincial differences among the in- 
habitants of the Eighteen Provinces, in language 
and manners, which mark them as distinct from 
one another as the Latin races of Europe. This 
fact renders any general characterization of the 
Chinese people exceedingly difficult. A descrip- 
tion of the people of Canton, in southern China, 
for instance, would require considerable modifi- 



THE PEOPLK OF CHINA. 53 

cation to make it applicable or just to the people 
of Shanghai, in eastern China; and so of all the 
provinces widely separated. I lived for years in 
daily contact vv^ith the people of Shanghai and 
vicinity, and I studied them and their institutions, 
their customs and manners, as carefully as I could, 
and have embodied the result of my experience 
in this chapter. My views are doubtless some- 
what colored by the local peculiarities of the peo- 
ple among whom I lived, but I have tried to in- 
form myself in regard to the general character of 
the people as a whole, and trust I have not entire- 
ly failed to do them justice, imperfect and unsatis- 
factory as this brief sketch necessarily is. The 
task is a difficult one. 




(54) 



AIRING THE BIRDS. 



CHAPTER V. 
The Language of the Chinese. 

/. J f 'KIT TEX LA XG I 'A GE. 

THE Chinese language, written and oral, like 
the people who speak it, is peculiar. It stands 
alone among the many forms of human speech 
which exist in the world. Sir John Davis says of 
it: "The highly artificial and philosophic struc- 
ture of this singular language entitles it to the 
attention of all intelligent persons, as a part of 
the history of the human mind. But it has other 
powerful claims to notice, from being the medium 
through which at least four hitndred millions of 
mankind, occupying countries which exceed the 
united extent of all Europe, communicate their 
ideas." The people of China Proper, Manchoo- 
ria, INlongolia, Turkestan, Bucharia, Thibet, Co- 
chin-China, Loo-Choo, Japan, Corea, and the 
inhabitants of Farther India, all use the Chinese 
written character more or less. Some suppose 
that five hundred millions of people can be ap- 
proached through this one medium of communi- 
cation. The only characters which approach it 
in this respect are the Arabic nicinerals, com- 
mon to all Europe. This advantage, which per- 
tains only to the Arabic numerals, belongs to the 
whole Chinese written language. The words are 
monosyllabic, and the characters symbolic, nei- 

(55) 



56 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ther having changed materially for many centu- 
ries. In fact, the written language has no history 
since the death of Confucius. The generations 
since his day have strictly followed his exam- 
ple, and thus become a nation of servile imitators. 
Forsaking the dictates of their genius, or the teach- 
ings of reason, they have degraded themselves to 
the condition of mere copyists, regarding the sages 
of antiquity as the schoolmen of the West did the 
Bible and its scholiasts, as not only true, but as 
containing all truth, so that an3^thing not taught by 
them was rejected as false and useless. The text 
of the ancient classics has always been regarded 
by the Chinese with as much superstitious jealousy 
as the Jews affect for the sacred language of their 
law. Some palpable t3^pographical errors have 
been carefully perpetuated because found in the 
original copies. 

Another circumstance has operated to prevent 
changes in the written language of China : it has 
no affinity with any other known tongue, and from 
its peculiar structure is incapable of incorporating 
or naturalizing foreign words. Having no facili- 
ties for the study of an}^ foreign literature, Chi- 
nese scholars have been shut up to the study of 
themselves only. The student has had but one 
model, and this is the standard by which his pro- 
ficiency in all literar}^ work is tested. Close imita- 
tion of the ancients, therefore, has always been a 
condition of literar}^ or scholastic success in Chi- 
na. The intellect of the nation has been thus 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 57 

cramped and distorted by this foolish system of 
repression. It has deprived their Hterature of 
all originality, and consequently of all intellectual 
vigor. 

The foregoing observations apply strictly only 
to the classical language and literature in China, 
for the biographies, novels, state papers, religious 
tracts, etc., exhibit a considerable variety of style. 
Many are w^ritten with a colloquial freedom very 
unlike the square, stiff style of the classics; but all 
works that claim any literary merit conform more 
or less to the fixed iron standard. Business men, 
who as a rule make little pretension to scholar- 
ship, have adopted a st3de of writing suited to the 
nature of their occupation. Many of them can 
keep books, and conduct a business correspond- 
ence, who cannot read intelligibly a page of the 
ancient classics. Letter-writing has not been cul- 
tivated beyond a brief formal communication 
practiced by school teachers with their pupils, 
and the commercial correspondence of business 
men. 

Chinese writers, unable to trace the history of 
their written character, have adopted the shorter 
method of referring all to supernatural agency. 
They say when the first characters were invented 
"the heavens, the earth, and the gods were greatly 
agitated. The inhabitants of hades wept at night, 
and the heavens rained down ripe grain." When 
the first symbols of a written language were em- 
ployed nobody knows. "The primitive charac- 



58 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ters of the Chinese language are derived from the 
natural or artificial objects of which they were at 
first the rude outline. Most of the original forms 
are preserved in the treatises of native philologists, 
where the changes they have undergone are shown. 
The number of objects chosen at first was not 
large; among them were the symbols for the sun, 
moon, hills, objects in nature, animals, etc." These 
original pictures wTre doubtless very rude, but 
they served to recall the objects they were intended 
to represent, and thus formed the foundation of 
a pictorial language which was gradually devel- 
oped into a written character. 

The written characters have been arranged by 
Chinese philologists into six classes, correspond- 
ing to our black letter, the Roman, the Italic, the 
written, and the running forms. The Chinese 
running hand might very easily be taken for an 
alphabetic character. It would be interesting to 
illustrate these remarks by examples if we had the 
necessary type; but as these cannot be procured, 
it will perhaps be as well to leave this part of the 
subject undeveloped. See cut on opposite page. 

The mode of printing first adopted by the Chi- 
nese has not been materially changed. The first 
step in the process is to write the characters on 
thin paper, ruled with lines to separate the col- 
umns and the division of the pages, two pages al- 
ways being cut upon one block, and a heavy dou- 
ble line surrounding them. The title of the book, 
chapter, and paging are in a column between the 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 



59 



pages, and when the leaf is folded through this 
column the characters appear on the edges and 
partly on both pages. This renders it easy to re- 



^ 

^ 



/^ 



H 








If 



^ 
^ 






-^ 






^ 



^ 






1E7 



• > 






^ 



IE? 






HI 

5t 

EI 

n't 






Q 



I 



Q 
B 

a 

n 

e 



THE SIX STYLES OF CHINESE CHARACTERS. 

fer to the chapters and pages. Marginal notes are 
placed on the top of the page ; comments occup}^ 
the upper part, separated from the text by a heavy 



6o HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

line. Sometimes two works are printed together, 
one running through the volume on the upper half 
of the leaves, and the other on the lower half, the 
two divided by a line. 

When the leaf is fully written out, just as it is to 
appear in the book, it is turned over and pasted on 
a block of wood face downward to invert the page. 
The block is usually made of plum or apple tree, 
about half an inch thick, and planed smooth on 
both sides. The paper when dried is carefully 
rubbed off of the block with the finger moistened 
wdth water or saliva. The impression of the char- 
acters remains on the block as distinctly as on the 
written sheet of paper. "The cutter," as he is 
called, with a small sharp chisel removes the wood 
around the characters, leaving them in relief. The 
block then looks like a stereotype plate, and is 
ready for the printer, who lays it on a pile of soft 
paper supported by a bench or stool, and " inks" 
it with a small brush made of the fibrous bark of 
the palm. He then places a sheet of "printing 
paper" on the block, and another sheet on that, 
and with one or two sweeps of a soft brush makes 
a complete impression of the characters on the 
block. The sheets when printed are placed in 
the hands of the binder, who folds and stitches 
them, and the w^ork is done. Chinese books are 
of all sizes, from quartos twelve or fourteen inches 
square down to 32mos. The price varies, accord- 
ing to the size and character of the book, from one 
cent to one dollar a volume. The government ex- 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 6l 

ercises no censorship over the press other than 
a prohibition to write about the present dynasty. 
Authors and pubhshers are not protected by any 
form of copyright. 

Books are hawked about the streets as news- 
papers are with us : circulating hbraries are car- 
ried from house to house upon movable stands, 
and booksellers' shops are numerous in all the 
large cities and towns. Tracts on various sub- 
jects, especiallv on moral and religious topics, 
are sold, or distributed gratuitously. The Bud- 
dhists have been, in many parts of the country, 
very active in tract distribution since missiona- 
ries began their labors among their people. Pla- 
cards, posters, "dodgers," and all sorts of adver- 
tisements, are spread on walls, pasted on boards, 
or scattered over the face of the country. The}^ 
are of all sizes and designs, some in bright colors, 
some large, some small, some illustrated. The 
Chinese have a sense of the ludicrous, and lam- 
poons, pasquinades, and caricatures are common; 
nor is an^'one below the emperor spared. Some of 
these caricatures of foreigners are very amusing. 

As to the structure of the Chinese language I 
shall say but little. A few words, however, in 
regard to the grammar may interest my youthful 
readers. Remusat, in his great work, gives a brief 
summary of the principles of Chinese grammar. 
He says: ** In every Chinese sentence, in which 
anything is understood, the elements of which it 
is composed are arranged in the following order; 



62 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The subject, the verb, the complement direct, and 
the complement indirect. Modifying expressions 
precede those to which they belong: thus, the ad- 
jective is placed before the subject, or comple- 
ment, the substantive governed before the verb 
that governs it; the adverb before the verb; the 
preposition incidental, circumstantial, or h3'po- 
thetical before the principal proposition, to which 
it attaches itself by a conjunction, expressed or 
understood. The relative position of words and 
phrases thus determined supplies the place often 
of every other mark intended to denote their mu- 
tual dependence, their character, whether adjec- 
ti\e or adverbial, positive, conditional, or circum- 
stantial. If the subject be understood, it is because 
it is a personal pronoun, or that it is expressed 
above, and that the same substantive that is omit- 
ted is found in the preceding sentence, and in the 
same quality of subject, and not in any other. If 
the verb be wanting, it is because it is the substan- 
tive verb, or some other easily supplied, or one 
which has already found place in the preceding 
sentences, with a subject or complement not the 
same." 

In the absence of all inflection, the relation of 
words to each other in a sentence can be fixed 
only by their collocation. The verb, for instance, 
must always precede its object and follow its sub- 
ject. The plural number is indicated bv an affix, 
or by repeating the noun; but both are unneces- 
sary when the number is prefixed — as, three men. 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 63 

The genitive or possessive case is generally de- 
noted by the sign " tsz " succeeding the noun like 
our s. The comparison of adjectives is marked 
by affixes. The tenses of verbs are indicated by 
auxiliaries, etc. 

//. SPOKEN LANGUAGE. 

Under this head little can be said, unless we ex- 
amine the local peculiarities of the many dialects 
into v^hich the colloquial language of China is di- 
vided. This would have little interest for the com- 
mon reader. 

It is difficult to say how many dialects there are 
in the Eighteen Provinces. First, because it is 
not easy to distinguish the peculiarities of pronun- 
ciation of one dialect from another; that is, it is 
difficult to say whether what you hear in one prov- 
ince is merely a variation in the pronunciation of a 
familiar word, or another word altogether. It is, 
secondly, difficult to say how many dialects there 
are, because in remote mountain districts, and 
other obscure localities, the people are in a semi- 
barbarous state, and neither they nor their lan- 
guage well knowm. Some native authorities sup- 
pose there are sixty different dialects, others say 
thirty-six, and some only twenty. 

Added to these causes, and perhaps the most 
radical influence in dialectical variations, is the 
fact that China originally consisted of several in- 
dependent tribes, or nations, all of one common 
stock, but as different in many of their local cus- 
toms and manners as if they were politically inde- 



64 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

pendent sovereign states. This has tended to pre- 
serve and increase the differences in the provincial 
dialects. Again, some are more and some less 
cultivated, as there were educated men in some 
localities and not in others. Among the more in- 
telligent inhabitants of cities the language has ap- 
proached more nearly the court dialect, while in 
the rural districts it has suffered the deteriorating 
effects of ignorance, modified, as all languages 
are, by the habits and occupations of the people. 
The written language never having been colloquial, 
the dialects have as a consequence been neglected 
by the educated classes. 

The dialects of China, like the written language, 
are monosyllabic, and limited in most instances 
to a few hundred words, but by a system of tones 
may be and are multiplied to an almost indefinite 
extent, furnishing a colloquial medium of commu- 
nication sufficient for all ordinary purposes. The 
Chinese, especially the lower classes, are fond of 
gossip, and while away many an hour in hearing and 
telling stories. Ghost stories have a peculiar fasci- 
nation for the ignorant, w^ho revel in the weird and 
improbable. A sense of humor is also common 
among all classes of Chinese, and the grotesque 
and absurd are used sometimes with great skill to 
embellish an otherwise prosy narrative. This fond- 
ness for story-telling has had its influence upon the 
language of the common people. 

As a sample of colloquial Chinese the following- 
translation of the Apostles' Creed, in the Shanghai 



THE LANGUAGE OF THE CHINESE. 65 

local dialect, is here given, furnished me by Mrs. 
J. W. Lambuth: 

Sing Kyung. 

Ngo siang toh jer ieh ko zung, yang jang nungker ko ya, 
sier sz Sau zung koong Ten lau De. 

Ngo siang sing e-ko-toh yangne-tsz rrt.W(> ke-fok, ngoo ne ko 
Tsu. 

Ngo siang sing Mo-le-a wajtsz Sun Ling ko nungker lau jang 
yasoo lay ko. 

Ngoo siang sing jasoo la Pay-la-too tsoo qway ko sz-jer ser 
tsz nan, ding la seh sz-ha-long, se tsz lau tsong; la te san njih 
long, E tang se-wyung tong-tsoong weh tsay lay ko; Ngoo siang 
sing j'rt50(? song tsz Ten lau zu la yang yung wung ker ko 2~a^ 
sier sz Tung^ ko yer ban ban, her ser yau tang e qway tsay lay, 
lau sung mung weh-la, lau se-la-ko nyung. 

Ngoo siang sing Sung Ling, Sung-koong tvay, Sung doo ko 
seang toong, lau tswer nyih ko nyau-so. 

Ngoo siang sing myoh-sung ko weh tsay lay, Ian yoong 
yoong yer yer weh la. A Mung, 

5 




(66) 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Literature of the Chinese. 

CHINESE literature is divided into four great 
sections: first, the sacred or classical books; 
second, history and biography ; third, works on sci- 
ence and art; fourth, light literature, novels, plays, 
romances, and poetr3\ Some idea of the extent of 
this literature may be formed from the imperial 
catalogue, which contains the titles of twelve thou- 
sand works, with tables of contents. They have 
twenty-four complete histories of the empire, an- 
terior to the present Manchoo d3^nasty, which 
began to reign (in 1644) two hundred and fifty 
years since. Material for the historv of this dy- 
nasty is being collected to be used at some future 
time. 

The department devoted to art and science con- 
tains a variety of works highly esteemed by the 
learned natives, but of little intrinsic value. Trea- 
tises on morals, etiquette ; familiar dialogues by their 
great sage, Confucius; books on the military art, 
on agriculture, etc., are to be found in every gen- 
tleman's library, and on many subjects discussed 
they display sound, practical views — mixed, it is 
true, with much that is absurd. The Chinese are 
a reading people, and the respect they show to 
men who have excelled in literary work speaks well 

(67) 



68 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

for the popular taste. No man (theoretically) who 
is not a scholar can hold any office in the empire 
above that of a policeman. 

Chinese literature has been greatly enriched by 
Protestant and Romish missionaries. The Bible 
has been translated into the language of Confu- 
cius, and parts of it into the local dialects, espe- 
cially in southern and eastern China. Many reli- 
gious tracts, treatises on astronomy, geography, 
and mathematics, have also been published in the 
language. The labors of Christian missionaries in 
heathen lands will one day be appreciated by the 
world, not only because they have delivered na- 
tions and tribes of men from the horrors of social 
and domestic barbarism and brought them into the 
family of civilized Christian nations, but because 
they have added more than an}^ other class of men 
to the general knowledge of mankind. They have 
been the pioneers of civilization in almost every 
land under heaven. They have explored the wilds 
of Asiatic and African jungles, at the peril of their 
lives, in search of lost and unknown tribes, that 
they might teach them the way of life. They have 
been the first to bring to the knowledge of the 
Christian world the rich treasures of undeveloped 
mines of wealth. What does Africa not owe the 
immortal Livingstone? What does the world not 
owe him? What does China not owe Morrison, 
Milne, Medhurst, and the many others, great and 
good men and women, who have given their lives 
to redeem her millions from heathen darkness? 



THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE. 69 

They labored not for wealth or fame, but that they 
might carry the glad tidings of the gospel to dying 
men. The Master will not forget them in the day 
when he makes up his jewels. 

THE CHINESE CLASSICS. 

The limits assigned to this volume will not per- 
mit even a brief sketch of the Chinese system of 
education. I have therefore chosen to place un- 
der the head of ''The Chinese Classics" such 
facts and observations as I suppose will illustrate 
the methods of literary training which have been 
pursued for centuries in China. Education is not 
esteemed in that country for its own sake so much 
as for the distinction which it confers, and the polit- 
ical advantages and opportunities which it affords. 
No man can hold any high office who is not a clas- 
sical scholar; and as office is the goal of every 
man's ambition whose social position allows him 
to aspire to any place of honor among his fel- 
low-men, education, at least in name, is eagerly 
sought. It is therefore interesting to know what 
Chinese education means — what it is. The one 
essential condition, fixed by law, is that the stu- 
dent sliall pursue a classical and historical course 
of study, and must pass an examination before the 
board of examiners. If successful, his name is 
placed on the bulletin board in the magistrate's 
office, and he is recognized as entitled to a place 
among candidates for literary honors. There 
are four literary degrees. The candidate is ex- 
amined for each degree, and may fail to obtain 



70 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

any one or all. Some men attend the annual ex- 
aminations for the th'st degree until they are sev- 
entv-tive years old. 

Much fraud and corruption is said to exist in 
the examinations, and in the distribution of hon- 
ors by examinino- boards. In one year more than 
twenty thousand forged diplomas were sold. 

The Chinese haye priyate schools, common 
schools, high schools, academies, colleges, and 
universities. What proportion of the people can 
read is a difficult question to answer. Many 
more in the cities can read than in the country. 
Some can call oyer the names of characters who 
haye no idea what the characters mean. Thus 
one can read what he does not understand, but 
others hearing him may understand perfectly 
what he is reading. Tradesmen, mechanics, and 
country gentlemen endeavor to give their sons 
an education that will fit them for business, 
and enable them to mix pleasantly with gen- 
eral society. Such an education does not, how- 
ever, entitle a man to be called a scholar, or to 
claim an}' of the privileges awarded to literary 
men. 

The classical or sacred works consist of nine, 
or what the Chinese call the " Four Books," and 
the " Five Canonical Works." In the course of a 
regular education the Four Books are first stud- 
ied and committed to memory, and afterwards 
the others. The texts of these books, without 
notes, are comprised within a small compass. 



THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE. *J1 

The numerous commentaries, however, which have 
been added to the text swell the whole to a for- 
midable bulk. The cheapness with which Chinese 
books can be produced brings them within reach 
of evervone who can read. 

1. The lirst of the Four Books, the Ta-shoo, 
shows that all government must originate in self- 
government, for if a man cannot govern himself 
he cannot govern others. Personal virtue, ac- 
cording to the teachings of Chinese philoso- 
phy, forms the foundation of all good character, 
and without it no man is ht to be a ruler, what- 
ever his genius or learning may be. Morality is 
thus made the chief element in a sound statesman 
or politician. (See Chapter VII.) 

2. The second of the Four Books is called the 
*' Infallible Medium,'' and inculcates the wisdom of 
moderation in all things. Whatever misfortunes 
a man may suffer, he should always be "equal 
and moderate:" never haughty in a high station, 
nor base in an humble one. 

3. The third book of the series is the record 
of the conversations and savings of Confucius, 
reported bv his disciples: a sort of Boswell's 
biographv of the sage. It is very interesting, and 
consequentlv exceedinglv popular among Chinese 
scholars. 

4. The fourth book is the work of Mencius, a 
celebrated sage, who lived about one hundred 
years after Confucius. This book exceeds in size 
all the other three, and is devoted to the great 



72 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

theme of Confucius — benevolent and just govern- 
ment. 

5. Confucius was either the author or compiler 
of the Five Canonical Books. The common name 
for these books is king. The first is called the 
" Book of Sacred Songs," a collection of about 
three hundred short poems. 

6. The second of the series is an imperfect and 
obscure book, v^hich the Chinese do not claim to 
understand fully. 

7. The third of this series is the " Book of 
Rites,"* and is considered as " the foundation 
of the present state of Chinese manners, and 
one of the causes of their uniform unchange- 
ableness." 

8. The next in the series is a history of his own 
times, and of those which immediately preceded 
them, by Confucius. It is supposed to be the 
only original work of the great sage. His design 
appears to have been to warn the rulers of the 
countr}^ of the dangers which threatened the sta- 
bility of the government. 

9. The last is a mvstical book, which some 
consider a verv ancient theory of creation, and 
of the changes which are constantl}^ occurring in 
nature. 

The foregoing imperfect sketch of the books 
known as the Chinese classics may serve to give 
the reader some idea of their character, and there- 
fore of the mental food upon w^hich the Chinese 
have been feeding for ages. There is much good 



THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE. 73 

advice, much practical wisdom, taught in these an- 
cient books, but there is no reference to an Unseen 
Power to whom all men are accountable for their 
actions ; no reference to a future state of rewards 
and punishments. All is of " the earth, earthy," 
limited to time and to the affairs of this Hfe. 

SPECIMENS OF CHINESE POETRT. 

The earliest literature of the Chinese were the 
songs and ballads, collected by Confucius into a 
single volume known as the " Book of Odes." 
These odes date back to a very earl}^ period in 
Chinese history. Confucius had a collection of 
three thousand, from which he selected and edited 
three hundred and eleven, arranged under four 
heads: (i) "National Airs," (2) the "Lesser 
Eulogies," (3) the " Greater Eulogies," and (4) 
the "Song of Homage." To this collection 
he gave the title of Shoo-King,, or " Book of 
Odes." 

Through most of these odes there breathes a 
calm and patriarchal spirit of simplicity. There 
are few sounds of war, little tumult of the camp, 
but, on the contrary, a spirit of peaceful repose, 
of family love, and of religious feeling. We have 
brought before the mind's eye the lowly cottage, 
where dwells a familv united by the bonds of 
affection and duty. Their food is the produce of 
the soil and the spoils of the chase. The highest 
ambition of the men is to excel as archers and char- 
ioteers, and their religious worship is the same as 
that, untainted by Buddhism or any other form of 



74 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

philosophical teaching, now practiced at the im- 
perial temples of heaven and earth, by the emperor 
only as high priest. 

The following selections are taken from the 
*' Book of Odes." Who translated them I do not 
know; nor do I know how true the translation is 
to the original. The Chinese commentators tell 
us that the following ode is intended to depict a 
domestic scene, in which an industrious wife im- 
presses on her indolent husband the necessity of 
early rising, and exhorts him to make virtuous and 
respectable acquaintances: 

"Get up, husband, here's the day!" 
" Not yet, wife, the dawn's still gray." 
*' Get up, sir, and on the right 
See the morning star shines bright. 
Shake off slumber, and prepare 
Ducks and geese to shoot and snare. 

*' All your darts and line may kill 
I will dress for you with skill. 
Thus a blithesome hour we'll pass, 
Brightened by a cheerful glass; 
While your lute its aid imparts 
To gratify and soothe our hearts. 

"On all whom you wish to know 
I'll girdle ornaments bestow; 
And girdle ornaments I'll send 
To any one who calls you friend; 
With him whose love for you's abiding 
My girdle ornaments dividing." 

—Booh of Odes, Ode 8. 

Another specimen is taken from a poet of 
the Wai dynasty, A.D. 620. The title of this 



THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE. 75 

poem is, " The Lament of a Soldier on a Cam- 
paign : " ' 

On the hilly way blows the morning- breeze, 

The autumn shrubs are veiled in mist and rain. 

The whole city escorts us far on our way, providing us 
With rations for a thousand li. 

Their verv worst have those Fates done. Ah me! 

How can I be saved r There is naught more bitter than an 
earlv death. Do not the gods desire to gain perpetual youth? 

As sorrow and happiness, so are fortune and misfortune 
intermingled. Heaven and earth are the molds in which we 
are formed. And in them is there nothing which does not 
bear significance? 

Far into the future looks the sage, early striving to avert 
calamity. But who can examine his own heart, scrutinize it 
by the light of heaven, regulate it for his present life, and pre- 
serve it for the old age which is to come.^ 

Longer grows the distance from what I have left behind 
me: my trouble is greater than I can bear. 

This may be poetry, but it looks and sounds 
very much like wretched prose. The translator 
has not, perhaps, done the original full justice. 
The Chinese language is not well adapted to poetic 
expression. 

One of the most ancient pieces in the '* Book of 
Odes," the date of which may reach three thou- 
sand years, has reference to a rich and powerful 
suitor, who carries off the bride who had already 
been engaged to an humble rival. The allusion is to 
some robber bird, which, like the cuckoo, deprives 
weaker ones of their homes; and the translation of 
this antique specimen may serve to show the simi- 
larity that pervades the tone of human sentiment 
in the most distant ages and countries: 



76 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The nest yon winged artist builds 

The robber bird shall bear away: 
So yields her hopes th' atiianced maid, 

Some wealthy lord's reluctant prey. 

The fluttering bird prepares a home 
In which the spoiler soon shall dwell: 

Forth goes the weeping bride, constrained, 
A hundred cars the triumph swell. 

Mourn for the tiny architect, 

A stronger bird hath ta'en its nest; 

Mourn for the hapless, stolen bride. 

How vain the pomp to soothe her breast ! 

CHINESE APHORISMS. 

What cannot be told had better not be done. 

The torment of envy is hke a grain of sand in 
the eye. 

For old age and withered flowers there is no 
remedy. 

Riches come better after poverty than poverty 
after riches. 

Great wealth comes by destiny, moderate wealth 
by industry. 

The error of one moment becomes the sorrow 
of a lifetime. 

A great man never puts away the simplicity of 
his childhood. 

Who swallows quick, can chew but little : so it 
is with learning. 

Better be a dog in time of peace than a man in 
a season of anarchy. 

Borrowed money makes time short, working for 
others makes time long. 



THE LITERATURE OF THE CHINESE. 77 

You cannot take two skins oft" of one cow. 
There is a limit to extortion. 

The gem cannot be polished without friction, 
nor man made perfect without affliction. 

The man who aims at excellence will rise above 
mediocrity, but the man who aims at mediocrity 
will fall below his aim. 

Let every man sweep the snow from before his 
own door, and not trouble himself about the frost 
on his neighbor's roof. 

A rash man is fond of provoking trouble, but 
when the trouble comes he is no match for it; a 
clever man turns great troubles into little ones, 
and little ones into none at all. 

The fish dwell in the depths of the waters, and 
the eagles in the sides of the heavens: the one, 
though high, may be reached by an arrow; and 
the other, though deep, may be caught with a 
hook. But the heart of man, though only at a 
foot's distance, cannot be known. 



CHAPTER VII. 
Government and Laws. 

ALTHOUGH revolution after revolution has 
swept over China during the many centuries 
of her national existence, and although she has 
changed her dynasties more than twenty times, and 
internal convulsions have shaken her throne to its 
foundations, she has never changed her form of 
government. Other nations and tribes, partially 
civilized, have been added by conquest to her 
national domain, yet all have been blended politi- 
cally into one homogeneous mass, and forced into 
obedience under one scheme of civil administra- 
tion. In this, as in many other things, China 
stands alone in her unique greatness, the wonder 
of the world. The line on the chart of history 
that marks her place among the nations is the 
only line that runs with unbroken continuity en- 
tirely across the chart. 

The Chinese government is modeled after the 
natural constitution of the family, the emperor 
being the father^ and the people his children. 
The obligations of patriotism are founded upon 
the filial relation, and all the duties of good citi- 
zenship are enforced by the same principle. One 
of their sacred books says: " In our general con- 
duct, not to be orderly is to fail in filial dut}^ ; in 
acting as a magistrate, not to be careful is to fail in 

(79) 



8o HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

lilial duty; in the intercourse of friends, not to be 
sincere is to fail in filial duty; in arms, and in war, 
not to be brave is to fail in filial duty." The idea 
of filial reverence and obedience due to parents 
is applied to all the senior members of the family, 
and the dut}^ to reverence the aged is enjoined 
upon the same principle. Old age is honorable, 
reverenced by all classes, and recognized by the 
government. When a man in China reaches the 
age of eight}^ years, he is reported to the emperor, 
and a vellow robe — the imperial color — is bestowed 
upon him as a mark of imperial respect, on the 
presumption that he must have lived a virtuous life 
to have been thus favored by heaven. 

As an example of the manner in which the gov- 
ernment sometimes punishes a violation of filial 
obligations, the following story is related by Sir 
John Davis: "'A man and his wife had beaten and 
otherwise severelv ill-used the man's mother. This 
being reported by the viceroy to Peking, it was 
determined to enforce in a signal manner the fun- 
damental principle of the empire. The very place 
where the offense occurred was anathematized and 
made a curse. The principal offenders were put 
to death ; the mother of the wife was bambooed, 
branded, and exiled for her daughter's crime; the 
scholars of the district for three years were not 
permitted to attend the public examinations, and 
their promotion was thereby stopped; the magis- 
trates were deprived of their ofiice and banished. 
The house in which the offenders dwelt was dug 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 8 1 

up from the foundations." An imperial decree or- 
dered that proclamation of the facts in the case be 
made throughout the empire, that *'if there be any 
rebellious children who oppose, beat, or degrade 
their parents, they shall be punished in like man- 
ner." The local officers are required to read pub- 
licly on the first and fifteenth of the month " the 
sacred instructions" addressed to the people, in 
which their duties are set forth so that they may 
not be ignorant of what they ought to do. 

The Chinese government, as it now exists and 
has existed for thousands of years, is the result of 
an historical evolution of the patriarchal idea as set 
forth in the ancient classics. The father of the 
principal family became the chief of the clan or 
tribe, and thus as the tribe increased and families 
branched off and new tribes were formed, the head 
of the senior or parent tribe became the recognized 
chief of all the tribes, and as the tribes increased 
to a nation the first or principal chief became the 
supreme ruler, the king or emperor of the whole 
nation. This principle of patriarchal supremacy, 
and the corresponding obligation of filial reverence 
and obedience, form the basis of the whole system 
of Chinese political economy. All the machinery 
of government has been adjusted to this one su- 
preme idea, namely, the right of the parent to gov- 
ern the child, and the duty of the child to render 
implicit obedience to the parent. By this simple 
and natural law the millions of China have been 
governed for thousands of years. 



82 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

In recognition of the exalted position the em- 
peror occupies, and the absolute power with which 
he is clothed, the people have exhausted the vo- 
cabulary of oriental hvperbole in attempts to de- 
scribe in suitable phrase the greatness and glory 
of his " celestial majestv." Thev call him •* The 
August and Loftv One," " Son of Heaven," 
''Sire of Ten Thousand Years/' etc. He only 
has a "right to worship heaven. Thus exalted, 
flattered, worshiped, the fountain of all power, 
rank, honor, and privilege, we would naturallv in- 
fer that he was in all things absolutely irresponsi- 
ble : but not so. The people expect and require 
him to rule according to the published laws of the 
land; and if he does not, thev know how to assert 
their rights even against the throne. [More than 
once the officers of the government have been 
assassinated when attempting to execute imperial 
edicts that were oppressive : and no attempt was 
made to punish the actors, because the body of the 
people defended them. •' There exists among the 
Chinese a stronp' democratic element which finds 
expression and scope for action in their municipal 
regulations. Every ward in China has its elders, 
its public hall, where the people meet for the trans- 
action of business, and its placards are public 
manifestoes, in which the popular sentiments of 
the people are boldly expressed; and both un- 
popular officers and offensive acts of govern- 
ment are sometimes criticised and denounced 
with irresistible logic and overwhelming ridicule " 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 83 

(Mackay). These elders are chosen by the peo- 
ple, and their authority is generally ultimate in 
adjudicating any case brought before them. The 
government regards them as the patriarchs of the 
people, and holds them responsible for the acts of 
the ward in which they reside. If a riot occurs in 
the ward, the elders are expected to have the guilty 
parties arrested and handed over to the govern- 
ment for punishment. If they neglect or refuse to 
do so, they are held to be themselves the offend- 
ers, and are dealt with accordingly. This makes 
them careful to maintain good order in their wards, 
and aids very materially in the administration of 
the law throughout the land. 

" The general government " of China, using our 
American terminology, consists of the emperor, 
the cabinet or privy council, the general or public 
council, and under these the six boards. 

1. The Board of Civil Office has control of all 
the officers in the civil service, and assists the 
emperor in the administration of the government; 
regulates the order of rank, the bestowment of 
rewards and punishments upon faithful and un- 
faithful officers. 

2. The Board of Revenue. This board has 
charge of the census, and regulates the levying 
of duties, taxes, etc. It also has charge of sala- 
ries, and the internal commerce of the empire. 

3. The Board of Rites examines and directs 
concerning the performance of the five kinds of 
ritual observances, and makes proclamation there- 



84 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

of to the whole empire. All rites and ceremonies 
are under the supervision of this board. 

4. The Board of War. This board has the gov- 
ernment and direction of all the military officers, 
militar}' operations, military examinations, and all 
that belongs to the army. 

5. The Board of Pitnishiiieiits has the govern- 
ment of all punishments throughout the empire. 
The emperor exercises clemency tovs^ard criminals, 
or enforces the law rigidly, according to the rec- 
ommendations of this board. 

6. The Board of Works has the oversight of all 
public works in the empire, and is also charged 
with the duty of providing the funds necessary for 
carrying on all public improvements. 

In addition to the *' general government," which 
embraces the whole empire in the scope of its 
administration, there are provincial or state gov- 
ernments provided for the Eighteen Provinces 
into which China Proper is divided. Each of the 
provinces has its governor-general, lieutenant-gov- 
ernor, treasurer, judge, literary chancellor, and 
commissioners of rice and salt. Every province 
is divided into counties, townships, and wards. 
At the head of each township is a magistrate, 
with his assistant constable, etc. It would not in- 
terest my readers, perhaps, to go farther into details 
in regard to the local government. Enough has 
perhaps been said to give some notion of the gener- 
al structure of the Chinese system of government. 

The nobility of China include the members of 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 85 

the imperial house and clan, of which there are 
twelve orders. These orders, as a body, are des- 
titute of power, land, wealth, office, or influence. 
They inherit the empty titles, which are not prac- 
tically worth as much as the old clothes of their 
ancestors. 

The civil officers of the empire are chosen by 
the emperor from the literary class alone, usually 
from those who have obtained the three degrees of 
bachelor of arts, master of arts, and doctor of 
laws. The very highest civil officers are taken 
from the class of scholars who have received the 
fourth or highest degree of literary honors. This 
secures the best talent in the empire to fill the gov- 
ernment offices, and constitutes the only real aris- 
tocracy in China. 

LA WS OF CHINA. 

During my residence in China I studied as 
carefully and as thoroughly as I could the gov- 
ernment, the religion, the domestic and social 
life of the people, their customs, superstitions, 
etc., but not their laws. I visited occasionally 
their courts, heard cases tried, and in a general 
way picked up some idea of Chinese law, but not 
enough to enable me to write intelligently about it. 
I will therefore take the liberty of quoting and 
condensing from Dr. Williams's " Middle King- 
dom " so much as will give the reader a general 
idea of the character of Chinese laws, and the 
manner of executing them. 

The Chinese code is called "The Statutes of 



86 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the Great Pure Dynasty," and contains all the 
laws of the empire. These laws are classified un- 
der seven general heads, namely: general, civil, 
fiscal, ritual, military, criminal, and those relat- 
ing to public works. 

1. The General Laws consist of instructions as 
to the principles which should guide the officer in 
the construction and application of the laws. 

2. The Civil Taws, consisting of twenty-eight 
sections, are divided into two books, one of which 
refers to the system of government, the other to 
the conduct of magistrates. 

3. The F'iscal Laws contain rules for enroll- 
ing the people for succession and inheritance, for 
regulating marriages between different classes of 
society, for guarding granaries, treasuries, etc. 

4. Ritual Laws. This department contains in- 
structions concerning sacrifices, worship of ances- 
tors, etc. 

5. Military Laws. These laws provide for the 
protection of the imperial palace, for the govern- 
ment of the army, the defense of the coast, the 
management of the imperial cattle, etc. 

6. Criminal Laws. This division contains one 
hundred and seventy sections, and is the most im- 
portant part of the whole code. It relates to rob- 
bery, treason, homicide, murder, quarreling and 
fighting, abusive language, disobedience to parents, 
bribery and corruption, forgery, etc. — a miscella- 
neous list of offenses which fill pages of the statute 
books. 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 87 

7. The seventh section contains laws regard- 
ing the weaving of interdicted patterns, repairing 
dikes, construction of government buildings, etc. 

Dr. Williams regards the Chinese code of laws 
as upon the whole humane, just, and reasonable, 
but he admits that the execution of the criminal 
laws is often cruel and barbarous in the extreme. 
The tortures sometimes inflicted upon prisoners 
by coarse and brutal underlings, in order to extort 
money, or to gratify a fiendish love of crueltv, sur- 
pass an3^thing reported of ordinary savage inven- 
tion. We will have occasion to refer to this subject 
again, and shall not add further details at present. 



In addition to what has been said in the forego- 
ing pages concerning the government and laws of 
China, a few general observations upon the ad- 
ministration of the government and the execution 
of the laws may not be irrelevant in this place. 

In order to appreciate, even in the least de- 
gree, the immense difficulty of holding together in 
any sort of harmon}' the four hundred millions 
of human beings under the scepter of the present 
emperor of China, we must consider the miscella- 
neous character of these millions ; that they are 
not all Chinese, but the inhabitants of Manchoo- 
ria, Mongolia, Turkestan, and Thibet. These are 
brought under the general administration of the 
one government with the inhabitants of the Eight- 
een Provinces of China Proper. How has this 
been done? Let those answer who can. China 



88 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

is the only nation in the history of the world that 
has accomplished such a miracle of government 
for any length of time, not to say for thousands 
of years ! 

Not only is the population of the empire of 
China composed of different nationalities, speak- 
ing different languages, with peculiar customs and 
manners, religions, traditions, and race antipathies, 
but the mixed mass is still further complicated 
by arbitrary class distinctions recognized by law 
and social custom. The following classifications 
are fixed by law: "First, natives and aliens; the 
latter class includes the unsubdued mountaineers 
and aboriginal tribes still living in the empire, 
races of boat people on the coast, and all foreign- 
ers living in the country, each of whom is subject 
to particular laws. Second, conquerors and con- 
quered, having reference almost exclusively to 
intermarriages between Manchoos and Chinese. 
Third, freemen and slaves. Every native is al- 
lowed to purchase slaves and retain their children 
in servitude; and free persons sometimes forfeit 
their freedom on account of their crimes, or sell 
themselves into bondage. Fourth, the honorable 
and the mean who cannot intermarry without the 
former forfeiting their privileges; the latter com- 
prise, besides aliens and slaves, criminals, execu- 
tioners, police runners, actors, jugglers, beggars, 
and all other vagrant or vile persons, who are in 
general required to pursue for three generations 
some honorable and useful employment before 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 89 



' ' * 



they are eligible to enter literary examinations 
There are also eight privileged classes, but only 
the nobility can avail themselves of these privi- 
leges with any profit. 

This great mass of humanity, thus diversified in 
individual and national character, is no better and 
no worse than the average man under the same 
grade of civilization. The Chinese are not more 
easily governed than other Asiatics. They are, as 
a people, seditious, turbulent, covetous, and ambi- 
tious. There must therefore be something, not 
only in the theory of government, but in the policy 
and method of its administration, by which the 
central government at Peking can keep a strong 
and steady hand on every part of the vast political 
machine, so as to direct all its movements. Our 
knowledge of details in regard to the practical 
workings of the central and provincial governments 
is so imperfect that we cannot venture upon even 
a probable explanation of the problem. We have 
the results in the history of the great Chinese em- 
pire, but how these results have been attained we 
do not understand. 

Some facts, however, connected with the practi- 
cal administration of the government may interest 
the reader. We have seen how the democratic 
element is incorporated into the ward system of 
China. The deliberations and manifestoes of the 
ward meetings are recognized by the emperor as 
a part of the machinery of government. The sys- 

* Williams's "Middle Kingdom." 



90 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

tern of mutual responsibility, which runs through 
every department of society, renders local disturb- 
ances of any kind, especially any interference with 
government officials in the discharge of their dut}^ 
a very serious matter. The locality where an of- 
fense is committed, no matter of what grade, is 
held responsible for it, and the elders of that par- 
ticular ward must arrest the offenders and hand 
them over to the government. 

The law forbids any man to hold office in his 
native province ; besides preventing all intrigue 
when it would most likely succeed (among his 
own people), this law sends the office-seekers to 
Peking, where they come under the eye of the 
censors, whose business it is to scrutinize their fit- 
ness for office. Moreover, no officer is allowed to 
marry in the territory under his control, nor own 
land in it, nor have a son or brother or near rela- 
tive holding office under him; and he is seldom 
continued in the same station or province more 
than three or four years. Local interests of any 
kind are supposed to be unfavorable to a faithful 
discharge of official duty. Theoretically, nepo- 
tism is impossible in China ; practically, it exists 
throughout the empire. 

Chinese officials are not at all without reproach 
in the matter of personal and official integrity. 
One of the censors in his report to the emperor 
says: "Among the magistrates are many who, 
without fear or shame, connive at robbery and 
deceit. Formerl}^ horse-stealers were wont to 



GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. 9I 

conceal themselves in some secret place, but now 
the}' openly bring their plunder to market for sale. 
When they perceive a person to be weak, they are 
in the habit of stealing his property, and then re- 
turning it to him for money, while the officers, on 
hearing it, treat it as a trivial matter, and blame the 
sufferer for not being more cautious. Thieves are 
apprehended with warrants in their possession, 
showing that when they were sent out to arrest 
thieves they took advantage of the opportunity to 
steal for themselves." 

While there are corrupt men in office in China, 
as in other countries (some not pagan), there are 
also good men, men who love justice and mercy, 
and who deal uprightly with their fellow-men. 
The moral teachings of Confucius are followed as 
faithfully by many Chinese officials as the pre- 
cepts of the Bible are observed by officers of 
Christian governments. That there is much offi- 
cial corruption in China, from the imperial cabinet 
down to the lowest petty office, no well-informed 
native or foreigner doubts. Recent riots in Chi- 
na, in which several missionaries were murdered, 
were instigated by the mandarins for political pur- 
poses. The literati of China are haters of for- 
eigners, and do all they can to keep alive the na- 
tional prejudice against them. They inflame the 
minds of the ignorant masses by horrible stories, 
and thus assist the officials in excitino; riots and 
murderous assaults on quiet and unoffending mis- 
sionaries. The presence of missionaries and their 



92 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

teachings are a rebuke to the shameful hves of the 
mandarins and literati^ and the people are not slow 
to see that the conduct of their rulers is a disgrace 
to the position they occupy. 

It is not too much to say that the present gov- 
ernment of China is thoroughly corrupt. The 
rulers are cruel, covetous, and oppressive. They 
need a higher civilization. The old forms remain 
as they were, but there is no life in them, no health, 
nothing but decay and death. What Western 
powers will do remains to be seen.* There is no 
question as to what the Church ought to do. Now 
is a crisis, not only with China politically and re- 
ligiously, but with the Churches of Protestant Chris- 
tendom. The Chinese need the gospel more now 
than ever before, if possible, and the obligation 
of Christians to send it to them is correspondingly 
increased. Western nations are increasing their 
armaments in the Chinese seas; the Church should 
increase its working force in China. 

*This was written in November, 1895. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Dynasties of China. 

PERHAPS no part of Chinese literature is so lit- 
tle interesting to the average foreigner as the 
historical.* It is simply a dr}^ record of the succes- 
sion of dynasties, and the reigns of many sov^ereigns 
with unpronounceable names. China has had no 
connection with the rest of the world until during 
the last few hundred years, and other countries 
have taken little more interest in her affairs than 
if she had been located in the moon instead of 
being an inhabitant of our planet. We feel no 
sympathy with the dull record of the past dreary 
centuries through which she has lived. Even the 
wars of China fail to interest us. We are com- 
paratively indifferent as to her political fortunes. 
Perhaps this is an unconscious retaliation for the 
supercilious manner in which the Chinese have 
treated other nations. I think the sympathies of 
the civilized world were with the Japanese in the 
recent war between the two countries. 

A full, consecutive history of China would be 
an impossibility. The data for such a work do not 
exist. Many Chinese writers have attempted what 
they call history. There is one work of three 

* A distinguished writer places Chinese historians at the bot- 
tom of the list of writers. 

(94) 



THE DYNASTIES OF CHINA. 95 

hundred volumes of this character, but it is after 
all only a prosy record of events, and not a his- 
tory. There is no logical order or philosophical 
sequence in the bald details, nor any attempt to ex- 
plain events, or to trace them to their causes. Sir 
John Davis says of Chinese history: " There is 
a continuous history of China, from the earliest 
ages down to the end of the Mongolian Tartar 
dynasty, called the ' Twenty-one Historians,' con- 
sisting of nearly three hundred volumes stitched 
with silk — yet we search in vain for anything be- 
yond a barren chronicle of facts and dates. Trains 
of reasoning and lessons of political philosophy 
can scarcely be looked for in a country the theory 
of whose government has always been despotic, 
however tempered by other circumstances. ' In- 
stead of allowing,' observes Mr. Guetzlaff very cor- 
rectly, ' that common mortals had any part in the 
affairs of the world, they speak of the emperors 
who then reigned. They represent them as the 
sources from which the whole order of things 
emanated, and all others are mere puppets who 
moved at the pleasure of the autocrat. This is 
truly Chinese ; the whole nation is represented by 
the emperor, and absorbed in him.' " 

Of course, with such a theory to guide them, no 
history of the nation could be written by native 
historians, or any reliable data furnished for future 
use. The despot whom the historians feared, as 
did the people, would not permit any record of 
events which did not tend to magnify and exalt 



96 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

him and his administration. There could there- 
fore be no true history of rulers or people under 
such circumstances. We are left with the barren 
annals of century after century, recorded by tim- 
id and time-serving writers, from which to gather 
the facts and events of four thousand years of 
Chinese history. Hence I have said a full and 
consecutive history of China is an impossibility. 
The data for such a work do not exist. 

I have said thus much as introductory to what 
may appear to my youthful readers as a very dry 
and uninteresting sketch of the Dynasties of Chi- 
na. Such a sketch could not be well omitted. If 
it is not easy reading, it may be valuable for ref- 
erence. 

The reader will remember that in the first chap- 
ter, on the "Antiquity of China," we decided that 
the Emperor Yu was the first real character in Chi- 
nese history, and that he began to reign about 
the year B.C. 2204. Some writers place the date 
of his reign much earlier, even as early as B.C. 
2800 ; but this would carrv him back into the 
mythological period, of which there is no record. 
I have condensed for present use the " summary 
of Chinese history " as given in Williams's " Mid- 
dle Kingdom." It is as follows: 

I . The Hai Dynasty, founded by Yu the Great. 
This dynasty existed for four hundred and thirty- 
eight years, or from B.C. 2204 to B.C. 1766, un- 
der seventeen monarchs. x\mongthe contempora- 
ry events of importance was the call of Abraham, 



THE DYNASTIES OF CHINA. 97 

Jacobs flight into Mesopotamia, and Joseph's ele- 
vation in Egypt; also Jacob's arrival in Egypt. 

2. The Shang Dynasty followed the Hai Dy- 
nasty, and continued four hundred and forty-four 
years, under twenty-eight sovereigns, down to 
B.C. II 22. The principal contemporary events 
were the exodus of the Israelites, B.C. 1648; their 
settlement in Palestine; Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, 
Samson, and Samuel were judges in Israel. 

3. The Chan Dynasty lasted eight hundred and 
seventy-three years, under thirty-five monarchs, 
down to B.C. 249, the longest of any recorded in 
history. The principal contemporary events were 
the accession of Saul as king of Israel; taking of 
Samaria; David's reign; Rehoboam, taking of 
Jerusalem; death of Nebuchadnezzar; accession 
of Cyrus ; return of the Jews ; battle of Marathon ; 
accession of Alexander; the conquest of Egypt by 
Alexander, etc. 

4. The Tsin Dynasty. This dynasty began in 
B.C. 249, and lasted only three years. 

5. The After Tsin Dynasty, B.C. 246 to 202. 
This dynasty lasted only forty-four years. In this 
period of oriental history all the East was dis- 
turbed by wars and commotions, and in the West 
a similar state of unrest and strife existed. 

6. The Han Dynasty came into power in B.C. 
202 and continued until A.D. 221, a period of four 
hundred and twenty-three years. It was divided 
into two dynasties, called the Han and the Eastern 
Han. During this period of Chinese history th^ 

7 



98 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

conquest of the Western world by the emperors of 
.Rome established that great empire as "mistress 
of the world." The great events of this period 
were the advent of our Lord, his ministry and 
death, wdth the establishment of the Christian 
Church. 

7. The After Han Dynasty began A.D. 
211, and continued fort3'-four years under two 
princes. Under this dynasty the country w^as di- 
vided into three principalities. The first comprised 
all northern China, and was the most pow^erful of 
the three. 

8. The Tsin Dynasty was founded by an am- 
bitious general of the house of Han. He ascended 
the throne in A.D. 2^5, but ruled only over the 
western half of the countr}^ and was engaged in 
constant warfare with the pett}' states that refused 
submission to him. Four emperors of this house 
ruled over China for fifty-two years. 

9. The Eastern Tsin Dynasty, successor to 
the last dynasty, reigned one hundred and three 
years under eleven princes. Buddhism and the 
doctrines of Confucius were dominant in this age. 
It was said that "children of concubines, priests, 
old women, and nurses administered the govern- 
ment." 

10. The Sung Dynasty w^as founded by a 
general who commanded the armies of Tsin. Dis- 
pleased with the incapacit}^ of his master, he caused 
him to be strangled, and placed his brother on the 
throne, w^ho resigned for fear he should meet the 



THE DYNASTIES OF CHINA. 99 

same fate. The general then seated himself on 
the throne in A.D. 420. 

11. The Tsi Dynasty was founded by Kauti, 
but he enjoyed the imperial honors but four 
years. He was followed by four princes, who 
reigned only a short time. The dynasty lasted 
only twenty-three years. 

12. The Liang Dynasty. Woo-ti, the first em- 
peror of this dynasty, reigned forty-eight years. 
He was a great devotee of Buddhism, and like 
Charles V. retired to a monastery, but was per- 
suaded to resume his crown. He, however, em- 
ployed his time in teaching the doctrines of Bud- 
dhism to his courtiers. The dynasty ended in 
A.D. 557. 

13. The Chin Dynasty began to reign in 
A.D. 557. Three brothers reigned most of the 
time during this dynasty. The kingdom of Wei 
ruled over all northern China from A.D. 386 to 
534, under eleven monarchs. It was finally sep- 
arated into Eastern and Western Wei, and other 
smaller states. 

14. The Sui Dynasty. This dynasty was weak 
and dissolute. The last ruler of the dynasty re- 
signed in favor of Li Yuen, A.D. 618. 

15. The Tang Dynasty. This celebrated line 
of rulers began their sway in peace, and during 
two hundred and eighty-seven years governed 
China wisely. They were probably the most civ- 
ilized and enlightened monarchs of their age. 
Europe was suffering under the ignorance and 



lOO HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

degradation of the middle ages. Twenty mon- 
archs reigned during the two hundred and eighty- 
seven years this dynasty lasted. 

i6. After Liang Dynasty. The last prince of 
the Tang dynasty was forced to abdicate, A.D. 907, 
and a struggle ensued against the usurper who 
seized the throne. After a reign of six years he 
was murdered by his brother, who reigned for 
sixteen years, and was slain by a Turkish general. 
Thus ended the dynasty, A.D. 923. 

17-21. The Five Dynasties, from 907 to 960. 
These short-lived houses are known in Chinese 
records as the '* Five Dynasties." 

22. The Sung Dynasty began to reign in A.D. 
970, after the turmoil and strife of the " Five Dy- 
nasties " were ended, and reigned until A.D. 1127, 
or one hundred and fifty-seven years. 

Then followed the Southern Sung Dynasty, 
from A.D. 1127 to 1280, under nine emperors. 
After this the Yuen Dynasty, founded by the 
great Mongolian, Kublai-Khan. This dynasty 
lasted eighty-nine years, when the Mongols were 
expelled . The Ming Dynasty followed, and held 
the reins of government for two hundred and sev- 
enty-six years. The present dynasty, known as 
the TsiNG or Pure Dynasty, came into power 
A.D. 1644, ^^^ h^s ruled China from that date 
down to the present day. The rulers are Man- 
choo Tartars. How well they have governed 
China does not enter into the design of this book 
to inquire in this place. 



'THE DYNASTIES OF CHINA. lOI 

I have thus run rapidly through the long list of 
dynasties, which may interest some of my readers. 
It amounts to little more than the political calendar 
of the government. If I had space, it might be 
more interesting to give some account of the mil- 
itary character and wars of the Chinese, but I 
must desist. 




(102) 



CHAPTER IX. 
Religions of China. 

THE STATE RELIGION. 

ALTHOUGH no hierarchy supported by the 
state has ever existed in China, no body of 
priests has ever been able to rise to power and 
influence, or create a caste hke the Brahmans of 
India, yet there is a state rehgion of very ancient 
date. It does not consist of doctrines which are 
to be taught, learned, and believed, but of rites 
and ceremonies to be observed. It is entirely a 
bodily service, and its ritual is contained in the 
statistics and code of the empire. The objects of 
worship are chiefly things, although persons are 
also included. There are three grades of sacri- 
fices — the " great," the " medium," and the " in- 
ferior." The objects to which the great sacrifices 
are offered are four: heaven, earth, the great tem- 
ple of ancestors, and the gods of the land and 
grain. The medium sacrifices are offered to the 
sun, the moon, the manes of deceased emperors 
and kings, Confucius, and the ancient patrons of 
agriculture and silk weaving; the gods of heaven 
and earth, and the passing year. The inferior 
sacrifices are offered to the ancient patrons of the 
healing art, and the spirits of deceased philanthro- 
pists, eminent statesmen, martyrs to virtue; to 
clouds, rain, wind, and thunder; the five cele- 

(103) 



I04 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

brated mountains, four seas, and four rivers, fa- 
mous hills, great water courses, cannon, flags, and 
many other things. The state religion is said to 
be greatly corrupted from its original simplicity. 
The emperor is the high priest, and renders hom- 
age to these objects of worship in person. When 
he worships heaven he wears blue robes, in allu- 
sion to the color of the sky ; he wears yellow when 
he worships the earth, red when he worships the 
sun, pale white for the moon, etc. 

" The state religion of China," says Dr. Wil- 
liams, *'is a mere pageant, and can no more be 
called the religion of the Chinese than the teach- 
ings of Socrates could be termed the faith of the 
Greeks." It is, however, connected with the sect 
of Confucianists, and all its members are men of 
literary distinction. It might with propriety be 
called " the sect of the learned," having the writ- 
ings of Confucius as its sacred books. Confucius 
said little about religion, and his followers imitate 
his example in this as in other matters of opinion. 

There exists but one temple in China dedicated 
to the worship of heaven, and one to the worship 
of the earth — both of them at Peking; and there 
the great sacrifices at the solstices are annually 
offered up by the emperor with much imperial 
pomp. One of the temples is situated east of the 
city, and the other west of the city. The whole 
system of worship is simply an imperial show — a 
materialistic display of gross idolatry.* 

*See chapter on Chinese Worship, 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. IO5 

CON FU CI A NISM. 

Notwithstanding Confucianism is here placed 
under the general head of ' ' Religions of China," it 
is not, strictly speaking, a religion at all, but rather, 
as Sir John Davis sa3'S, ''a system of philosophy 
in the department of morals and politics;" yet it 
is not a system of philosophy merely, for it has a 
ritual and objects of worship, and is so far a re- 
ligion. This makes it difficult to classify it. As 
the name Confucianism has been given to the 
whole system, and has been placed by all writers 
on the subject so far as I know under the general 
head of the " Religions of China," I shall so des- 
ignate it. The other religions of China are Bud- 
dhism and Taoism. We may characterize the 
three systems as ethical., 7netaj)hysical^ and mate- 
rialistic. Confucianism addresses man's moral 
nature, discourses on virtue and vice, an.d the duty 
of obeying the dictates of conscience. The basis 
of the whole system is the duty of filial piety, hence 
the w^orship of ancestors, etc. Buddhism is meta- 
physical. It appeals to the imagination. Its gods 
are personified ideas; it denies the existence of 
matter, and concerns itself only with ideas. In 
other words, it is a form of idealism. Taoism is 
materialistic. It believes the human soul to be a 
purified form of matter, and that it may become 
immortal only by physical discipline. 

I shall not attempt to discuss these systems of 
religion in a philosophical or theological manner, 
but will simply give a sketch of their authors and 
a brief outline of their teachings. 



I06 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The author of the first system was Koong--fu-tsz, 
or as Latinized by the Jesuits, Confucius. He was 
born in the small kingdom of Loo, now a part of 
the Shan-tung province in China, some time about 
B.C. 550. He was therefore contemporary with 
Pythagoras, lived a hundred years earlier than 
Socrates, and a hundred 3^ears later than Buddha. 
His ancestors for generations had enjoyed ducal 
honors, and his immediate family boasted some of 
the most illustrious names on the military register of 
their times. His father. Heigh, was distinguished 
as a cavalry officer of great strength and courage. 
He was also prime minister of his native kingdom. 
It is said that at the siege of Pihyang the enemy 
succeeded in entering the city in such numbers 
that it became necessary for him and his associ- 
ates to abandon it. As they were passing through 
the gate the portcullis fell. Heigh seized the mas- 
sive structure, and by main strength lifted it and 
held it up until the last one of his men had passed 
out. Many other extraordinar}^ exhibitions of phys- 
ical strength are related of this Chinese Goliath. 
He is said to have been more than eight feet high. 

Confucius was, like his father, a man of great 
ph^^sical strength, and of an irascible and imperious 
temper in his youth; but by self-discipline he sub- 
dued the violence of his passions and became quiet 
and affable in manner, a studious scholar, and a 
wise counselor. But little is known of his mother. 
The Chinese do not affect respect for female biog- 
raphy. 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. I07 

Many absurd legends connected with the birth 
of Confucius are recorded by grave historians. 
One is that " as his mother, a few days before his 
birth, passed through the forest, the trees bent 
down in homage, and the birds made obeisance to 
her." " He was born in a cave, and a spring of 
water gushed up at the moment of his birth, in 
which he was washed, after which the spring dried 
up. Two dragons watched at the entrance of the 
cave, one on the right and the other on the left." 

The Chinese believe Confucius to have been 
inspired by heaven, though not himself divine, and 
therefore regard the appearance of miracles at his 
birth not incredible. They say their sages are not 
gods nor related to the gods, but a superior develop- 
ment of man, endowed by heaven with extraordina- 
ry mental and moral powers for the enlightenment 
of mankind. Accustomed as we are to the per- 
spicuity and harmony of truth, the incongruities 
and absurdities which superstition associates with 
the supernatural offend our sense of propriety. 
Mystery — incomprehensibility — is the heathen idea 
of the divine; and as Confucius was a man of de- 
cided human character, and in no sense veiled in 
mystery, his followers have deified him as a man 
and placed him at the head of their sages, and not 
among their gods. It is true the}^ worship him, 
but so they do the shades of deceased emperors, 
and their own ancestors, as well as the heroes and 
benefactors who have been deified by imperial de- 
crees. 



Io8 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The childhood of Confucius was passed as that 
of most boys of his time. His father left him an 
orphan in his third year, and with limited means, 
so that his early opportunities for acquiring an 
education were not good. At that day there were 
no public schools in China where he could obtain 
even the rudiments of a primary education. He 
was therefore left to the resources of his own genius 
and industry. 

Confucius began very early the study of antiq- 
uity. He soon discovered that the teaching of 
the sages was almost entirely unknown among 
the rude inhabitants of his native state, and he set 
himself the task of teaching them. His superior 
intelligence, devotion to the sages of antiquity, and 
the exemplary character of his life, inspired ven- 
eration for his person and profound respect for 
his teachings. He soon became conscious of his 
mission as a reformer, and began in good earnest 
his life work, which he never perhaps fully under- 
stood, impelled, as he once said, " to move forward 
without foreseeing the end." He attributed the 
impulse which urged him "to become a public 
teacher of rectitude ' ' to the ' ' will of heaven. ' ' In 
his twenty-seventh year he began his public career 
as teacher, and such was the reputation which he 
had already acquired that his academy was soon 
crowded with aspiring young men from all parts of 
the country. The simple and suggestive method 
which he employed as a teacher tested the zeal 
and ability of his pupils, and many came to see 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. IO9 

and hear who had not the courage to remain. He 
said in regard to his method as a teacher: " I do 
not open truth to one who is not eager to acquire. 
I present one angle of a subject to a pupil, and 
if he cannot find the other, I do not repeat the 
lesson." His school was evidently no place for 
idlers or dullards. 

After some years of labor as a teacher, he was 
made prime minister of his native kingdom of Loo, 
a position which his father had once filled. Chi- 
nese historians say that "during his administra- 
tion all useless ornament was abandoned, strict 
honesty maintained by all grades and classes, and 
the palmy and pure days of the sages realized 
again. The women were taught humility and sub- 
ordination, the children filial piety, the subjects 
reverence and obedience to their rulers, and the 
rulers w^ere enjoined to maintain justice and mercy 
toward all." These golden days, how^ever, were 
destined to end abruptly; and the happy inhabit- 
ants of Loo, so pure, so upright, such models of 
virtue, were captivated and led astray by a band 
of singing women sent into their midst by a wick- 
ed and wdly prince of a neighboring state, whose 
jealousy could not brook the marvelous prosperity 
of Loo. Such was the disgust and humiliation of 
Confucius at the shameful defection of his people, 
that he left them and became a stranger and wan- 
derer in other lands. He traveled from one petty 
kingdom to another, pursuing what would now 
be regarded as the life of a respectable vagabond, 



no HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

followed in all his eccentric wanderings by a few 
faithful disciples, whom he taught under the 
friendly shade of some tree or by the bank of 
some stream, borrowing from familiar objects in 
nature the striking imagery which characterized 
his style as a teacher. Many of the lessons thus 
taught have been preserved, and now form a part 
of his philosophical teachings. 

How far his views of man as a social and sym- 
pathetic being have been affected by his personal 
experience during these years of hardship, disap- 
pointment, and sorrow, has formed a subject of 
grave and voluminous speculation. Some of the 
dogmas of his code have been attributed to his 
peculiar trials during his season of exile. He 
seems to have been above any feelings of revenge, 
for after some years spent abroad he returned to 
his native state, and though he refused to accept 
^.,jr^)ffice, he used his great influence in support of 
^"^Jthe government. Chastened and made wiser by 
the hardships and disappointments of life, his 
teachings assumed at this time a broader and more 
philosophic cast, and from this period his genius 
asserted its supremacy over his countrymen. He 
felt that neither princes nor people appreciated 
him, and as he approached the end of life he 
became melancholy. The world had treated him 
badly. Few understood him. Disappointed hopes 
filled his soul with bitterness. No wife nor child 
stood by him to minister the kindly offices of 
affection. He offered no prayer, and he betrayed 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. Ill 

no fears. Darkness came over him like the shad- 
ows of night, and his great soul went out alone to 
meet its Maker. 

The system of Confucius is to be found in the 
nine books which bear his name. An analysis of 
these books would occupy more space than can 
here be given. The great work of Dr. Legge, 
"A Translation of the Chinese Classics, with Crit- 
ical Notes," in seven volumes, contains the most 
complete and reliable account of Confucianism 
that we have in the English language, and to that 
I would refer anyone wishing further information 
on the subject. 

In any attempt to form a just estimate of the 
great Chinese sage, and his teachings, the intel- 
lectual and moral condition of the country in 
which he lived and labored must be taken into the 
count. Contemporary with Pythagoras, he belongs 
to an age anterior to the birth of modern civiliza- 
tion, before Christianity had shed its light upon 
the intellectual darkness of the world. China had 
no established system of philosophy, religion, or 
politics; nothing beyond the traditions of antiquity, 
and these greatly obscured by oriental exaggeration. 
There was no literature, no schools, no colleges, 
nor any of the appliances so common in civilized 
countries for the diffusion of general intelligence. 
It is true that Confucius professed only to restore 
the lost knowledge of antiquity, but how could he 
do this when the golden age from which he claimed 
to have gathered so much had no history? 



112 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

Confucius probably used the names of the an- 
cient sages to give dignity and authority to what 
would otherwise have been challenged by his 
countrymen as unlawful innovations. China has 
always worshiped the past, and the appearance of 
novelty has been the sign of heresy. As it was, 
he suffered persecution from those whose condi- 
tion he labored to improve, the common lot of 
good men in a corrupt age — the inheritance of re- 
formers. His persecutions would have been much 
greater if he had attempted any radical changes 
in his own name. He therefore protected himself 
and his teachings by claiming to originate nothing, 
but simply to restore the ancient system of China 
— the lost wisdom of the sages. 

Most ancient Asiatic systems of philosophy and 
political economy were founded on the prevalent 
religious notions of their times. Not so with the 
teachings of Confucius. So little has religion to 
do with his system that by many of his own coun- 
trymen, as well as by some foreign writers, he is 
regarded as an atheist. Engaged all his life in pol- 
itics, he seems to have given no thought to the 
spiritual nature of man or his future destiny, but 
to have given all his energies to the improvement 
of human government. The results of his teach- 
ing may be seen in China to-day, both in the pe- 
culiar form of civil government and in the social 
institutions of the country. (See Chapter VII. on 
the Government of China.) 

It will be sufficient, perhaps, to give in this con- 



REI>IGIONS OF CHINA. II3 

nection a brief summary of the leading principles 
upon which the system of Confucius is founded, 
especially his views of government. 

1. Government is the regulation of human con- 
duct by just and merciful laws, enforced by the 
authority of the state ; rewarding the obedient and 
punishing the rebellious. 

2. The individual multiplied constitutes the fam- 
ily; the family multiplied constitutes the state. 

3. He that can govern himself can govern a fam- 
ily; he that can govern a family can govern a state. 
All good government therefore begins with self- 
government. 

4. In the regulation of individual conduct five 
things are requisite: benevolence, rectitude, pro- 
priety, wisdom, and truth. These are known as 
the "five cardinal virtues," the " five pillars which 
support heaven." These virtues cannot exist 
without a motive, some all-pervading influence. 
This universal support is filial -piety. *' Without 
this," says Confucius, "it is useless to expect 
fidelity to the prince, affection to brethren, justice 
to neighbors, kindness to domestics, or constan- 
cy among friends. This feeling, if it rule in the 
heart, will lead to the performance of every duty, 
the subjugation of every evil passion, and the ren- 
ovation of the whole man. It is not to be confined 
to time or place, but it is to be maintained whether 
the objects be present or absent, living or dead." 
Thus filial duty is made the center and basis of 
the entire system of civil and social government. 



114 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The emperor is the "father of his people," for 
whom he is supposed to feel a constant paternal 
solicitude, and over whom he exercises unlimited 
patriarchal authority. He is, theoretically, respon- 
sible only to heaven for his conduct. 

Confucius was the author of many moral maxims 
which have had great influence upon the character 
and habits of the Chinese. He also meddled with the 
vagaries of speculative philosophy. All the pagan 
nations of the East have a more or less elaborate 
cosmogony to which their sages have devoted much 
thought to little profit. The Chinese philosophers 
say that "before heaven and earth were divided 
there existed one universal chaos. When the two 
energies of nature, male and female, began to exert 
their harmonizing influence, the purer elements 
ascended and formed the material heavens; the 
grosser descended and formed the earth. From 
these all things sprang into being, and thus heaven 
and earth are the father and mother of all things.". 
This sexual system runs through the universe, 
like that which Linnseus found to exist in plants, 
and forms the basis of universal classification. 
They find its type and illustration in numbers. 
" One produced two, two produced four, four 
produced eight," and thus the endlessly diversified 
forms in nature were produced. To such studies 
Confucius devoted the last days of his life. 

The demeanor and habits of Confucius have 
been diligently recorded by his admirers. One 
says "he was mild, yet firm; majestic, though 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. II 5 

not harsh; grave, yet agreeable." He seems to 
have been fond of a simple and retired life. " The 
virtues of country people," he observes, " are 
beautiful: he who in selecting a residence refuses 
to dwell among them cannot be considered wise." 
Being asked by a disciple to describe the man of 
superior virtue, Confucius replied: " He has nei- 
ther sorrow nor fear." The disciple, surprised, 
said: ** Does that alone constitute his character? " 
The sage responded: " If a man searches within, 
and finds nothing wrong, he need have neither 
sorrow nor fear." 

It is not an easy task to ascertain the place which 
Confucius justly occupies among the great teachers 
of mankind. If we look only to the intellectual 
and literary character of his writings, and com- 
pare them with the Iliad of Homer, the Dialogues 
of Plato, or the reasonings of Socrates, we must 
assign him a secondary position. But if w^e con- 
sider the moral influence his teachings have ex- 
erted over so man}^ millions of minds for so many 
ages, we must allow him to rank with the greatest 
intellects of the world. In any attempt to form an 
estimate of his character, w^e must not forcret that 
he was a heathen, and that his opinions on the 
subject of religion were formed without any knowl- 
edge of revelation, but conformed to the crude 
and absurd religious systems of his time. He said 
nothing definitely about a future state of existence, 
but left his disciples to believe the popular teach- 
ings of the priesthood on the subject. When ap- 



Il6 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

preaching death himself, he seems to have felt no 
great concern about the future. He had been en- 
gaged in politics all his life, had given little or no 
thought to the subject of religion, and died as he 
had lived. 




(117) 



CHAPTER X. 

Religions of China (Continued), 

BUDDHISM. 

IN any discussion of Buddhism it is important to 
remember that there are many systems of belief 
bearing this name. No other faith has undergone 
so many changes both of doctrine and of rituahs- 
tic forms. Buddhism is one thing in China, and 
quite another thing in Thibet, Japan, Ceylon, Siam, 
Burmah, and India. It has been greatly modified 
in China by the influence of Confucianism, Tao- 
ism, and ancestral worship. The widely different 
opinions which have been expressed as to the 
teachings of Buddhism may therefore be the result 
of the various forms which it has assumed. In 
China it has been forced into coalescence with 
other systems of belief, under the peculiar form 
of toleration practiced in that country. The Chi- 
naman really has no religious belief. What seems 
to be a religion with him is a ceremonial or cult 
used on state occasions, at funerals, and in ances- 
tral worship. He regards the different systems 
of religious belief prevalent in his countr}^ pretty 
much as we do insurance companies. He takes 
out a policy in each, and pays the premiums, with 
the uncertain feeling that it may or may not be a 
good investment. If Christianity could come into 
(118) 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. II9 

the business it would largely increase the numbeF 
of its nominal converts. The Chinese are intense- 
ly mercenary. 

With this introductory explanation, I will give 
as fair and full a statement of Buddhism, as tt exists 
in China, as my space and material will permit. 

Buddhism originated in India about six hundred 
years before our era. Tt was introduced into Chi- 
na A.D. 66. The Emperor Ming, of the Han dy- 
nasty, heard, in some way, that a divine teacher of 
great wisdom and marvelous power had appeared 
in the west, and sent an embassy to make inqui- 
ries concerning him. The embassy proceeded to 
India, and there met with the Buddhists; and con- 
vinced that Buddha was the divine teacher referred 
to, they persuaded a number of Buddhist priests to 
accompany them to China. They were received 
with great favor by the emperor. Provision was 
made for their support, temples erected, and their 
religion gladly received by the people. Buddhism 
supplied a want which the masses of the people 
had long felt: some provision for the spiritual na- 
ture of man, and some definite teaching as to a 
future state of rewards and punishments. The old 
religions of China said nothing about a future life. 
Buddhism, on the contrary, teaches the existence 
of the soul after death, and a state of rewards and 
punishments in a heaven and in a hell. Imperfect 
and unsatisfactory as this teaching is, it is infinitely 
better than the cold, heartless teaching of the Con- 
fucian system, or the coarse materialism of Tao- 



120 HISTORY Of The Chinese. 

ism. Buddhism has always been the most popular 
religion in China with the common people, though 
held in comparative contempt by the government 
and the literary classes. 

The founder of Buddhism was a son of the king 
of Magadha, in Bahar, India. Tradition represents 
him as being in early life grossly dissipated and 
immoral, but he reformed and devoted himself to 
a life of separation from the world, and was there- 
fore accounted very holy. He is regarded by his 
worshipers as one of the manifestations — the last 
avatar — of Vishnu, and therefore the real Buddha. 
During his life he was known as " the lion," or 
devotee of the race of Sakya, and after his death 
as Buddha, and has been worshiped as such down 
to the present day. 

Buddhism contains less that is revolting and im- 
moral than any other heathen system known in the 
East except Confucianism. Its influence in China 
has been to some extent beneficent, chiefly from 
the fact that it regards man as responsible for the 
moral qualit}^ of his actions. It also inculcates pu- 
rity, charity, and benevolence. 

The principal precepts of Buddhism are ten. 
They are the following : ( i ) " Thou shalt not kill. ' ' 
This refers to all creatures that have life, whether 
man or beast or insect. Life with a devout Bud- 
dhist is sacred, no matter in w^hat form it manifests 
itself. The doctrine of the transmigration of souls 
adds emphasis to the first commandment, because 
we cannot know^ what soul mav be incarnate in the 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 121 

Creature we would slay. It would be an awful 
crime to thus destroy a father or mother, and so the 
commandment covers all forms of life. (2) "Thou 
shalt not steal." (3) " Thou shalt not commit 
adultery." (4) " Thou shalt not lie." (5) " Thou 
shalt not slander." (6) " Thou shalt not desire the 
death of thine enemies." (7) "Thou shalt not 
covet." (8) "Thou shalt abhor all idle and in- 
decent conversation." (9) "Thou shalt not be- 
tray the secret of another." (10) " Do not err in 
the true faith, or think it false." 

Those who would attain higher degrees of holi- 
ness must also obey the following commandments: 
" Thou shalt not marr}^, drink intoxicating liq- 
uors, smell odoriferous flowers, wear costly gar- 
ments, or eat food in the afternoon." * Where can 
we find a better code of laws governing the indi- 
vidual or social life, except in our ovv^n inspired 
Scriptures, where we have "the perfect laws?" 
There is in our "Ten Commandments" a com- 
plete system of moral law without a weak word, 
or an imperfect phrase, or anything approaching 
the absurd or unreasonable. Not so with the pre- 
cepts of Buddha. What reason can be given for 
the prohibition against smelling " odoriferous flow- 
ers," or "eating food in the afternoon?" It is 
true, smelling the flowers might be considered a 
luxury, and therefore forbidden; and eating in the 
afternoon a sign of gluttony, and so condemned 
as a sin, but what trifles compared with the many 

* These commandments apply chiefly to the priesthood. 



122 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

things not. prohibited ! There is nothing of this 
kind of frivoHty in our Scriptures. 

Buddhism has no Saviour, no atonement, but 
leaves the sinner to deal with himself in a busi- 
ness way. He is supposed to open a debit and 
credit account with himself and heaven. If at the 
end of life his good deeds overbalance his evil 
deeds, then he is entitled to reward, and will en- 
joy in the future state whatever good may be re- 
served for the righteous. If, on the other hand, 
his evil deeds preponderate, he will be doomed to 
suffering according to the demerit of his sins. 

One way of laying up merit is to repeat the 
name of Buddha. This may be carried to any ex- 
tent the devotee is able to repeat the sacred name. 
When a person has repeated it three hundred 
thousand times, he may begin to hope for a vision 
of the god. Another method of laying up treasure 
in heaven is to enter a small cell and have the en- 
irance sealed so that the devotee cannot get out 
until the end of the time for which he has taken 
a vow, usually three or five years. His sole oc- 
cupation is repeating the name of Buddha. He 
uses a rosary like the Roman Catholics. Many 
lose their reason while incarcerated in their nar- 
row cells, and are regarded as inspired persons 
ever afterwards. 

Besides the repetition of prayers to Buddha, 
there are other means of acquiring merit, such as 
repairing a road, building a bridge, giving ground 
for a grave, giving alms to the poor. All these 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. I23 

acts are esteemed meritorious, and the man who 
performs them is accounted righteous. The high- 
est rewards are given to those who make an image 
of Buddha, or write a sermon on his doctrine, or 
perform any act which may benefit a priest, such 
as giving him money, building or decorating a 
temple, etc. 

Absorption is considered the highest state of 
bliss which any mortal can attain; to be swallowed 
up in " the eternal essence " — a state of utter un- 
consciousness in which personality is lost. It is 
annihilation. But itw, however, reach this sub- 
lime state of absolute rest. It requires a life of 
peculiar sanctity, many repetitions of the name of 
Buddha, and many acts of mercy and charity; 
also perfect abstraction from the world in which 
the pleasures of sense no longer allure the passions 
or disturb the tranquil repose of the spirit. If a 
man can become so holy as to stop thinking en- 
tirely, he may be sure of happiness when he dies. 
It is pathetic to see a poor blind soul thus strug- 
gling after the light: burdened wdth a sense of 
sin, oppressed with the cares and anxieties of life, 
wandering to and fro, seeking rest and finding 
none. Surely the great Father of us all regards 
with tender compassion these lost sheep of the wil- 
derness. 

TI/E TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS. 

This is one of the principal dogmas of Buddhism, 
and one of the most universal tenets in heathenism. 
The end of all the weary changes through which 



124 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the soul must pass in its transmigrations is annihi- 
lation, or to ** be swallowed up in the crystal sea 
of universal being/ ' All the devotees of Buddhism 
do not expect this highest estate, or if they do hope 
for it they must expect to toil through the changes 
of the "thirty-three heavens." This will require 
ages upon ages. The soul, when it enters the 
spirit world, is judged and sent on its endless 
round of transmigrations, either up or down in 
the scale of existence. The man who has lived a 
wicked and unclean life in this world will descend 
and perhaps enter the body of some beast or worm, 
to grovel in the dust among the lowest forms of 
animal life. In some remote period, when he has 
atoned for his sins by suffering, he may return to 
this world again and be born a man or a horse, 
an ox or a woman. 

The idea upon which the doctrine of transmi- 
gration is based seems to be connected with the 
Buddhist theory of the creation. The Buddhists 
believe that matter is eternal, and that anything 
which has life has within itself that which has 
brought it into existence, and also contains within 
itself a certain tendency to a fixed destiny. The 
world was brought into existence by this law of 
tendency, and it is destined to destruction, to be 
followed by another world, and that by another, 
and that by myriads of other worlds. The period 
of the world's existence is called a kalpa. One 
writer has said, in trying to illustrate the duration 
of a kalpa: " If a man were to walk up a moun- 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 1 25 

tain nine miles high once in every hundred years, 
and continue to do so until the mountain was worn 
down to a plain, the time required would be noth- 
ing compared with the fourth part of a kalpa." 
Now, as one world when destroyed springs up 
again to pass through another stage of existence, 
so man when he dies merely passes into another 
state of being, to come into the world again at 
some future time. What his condition shall be 
depends upon his conduct in the previous state of 
existence; what kind of an animal he will be, how 
long he will continue, etc., will depend upon his 
character. 

A very wicked man may pass at once into hell 
when he dies. He will thus be deprived of the 
opportunity to repent, or to acquire merit by good 
deeds. According to the sacred books of the 
Buddhists there are eight principal and sixteen 
smaller hells. They are inclosed on all sides by 
high walls thirty-six miles thick. All kinds, all 
conceivable modes of torture are inflicted on the 
wicked in these hells. In one place a man is be- 
ing pounded by a large hammer until his bones 
are crushed to a jelly. Another is having the flesh 
torn from his bones with red-hot pinchers. Some 
are roasted on spits, some have melted lead poured 
down their throats, and others are boiled in oil. 
The man who has murdered his father or mother 
suffers all the torments of all the hells forever. 

The Buddhist heaven (or heavens, for there 
are thirty-three in all) is a place of rest and per- 



126 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

feet enjoyment, where the inhabitants are exempt 
from toil and sorrow, from sickness and suffering. 
They dwell in beautiful palaces, and spend their 
time in dancing with beautiful goddesses. This 
lovely place is sometimes called " The Happy Land 
in the West." It is a country of gardens and pal- 
aces, with birds of melodious song, and where all 
desires are fully gratified. This state of blessed- 
ness can be attained only by the most enthusiastic 
devotees of Buddha, after long ages of toil and 
suffering, in which an infinite amount of merit has 
been acquired. 

Such is a brief outline of the Buddhist creed, so 
far as it exists among the common people in China. 
There is a metaphysical phase of Buddhist teach- 
ing which belongs rather to philosoph}^ than reli- 
gion. With this the Chinese have little sympathy. 
They are practical, not speculative. This " higher 
Buddhism," as it is called, has captivated the imag- 
inations of some Europeans who affect much ad- 
miration for its "lofty and sublime character." 
This is what Sir Edwin Arnold calls '* The Light 
of Asia." It is poor philosophy, and worse reli- 
gion. His poem is beautiful enough, but it is po- 
etry, not a fair account of Buddhism, not even an 
imitation of it, as it actually exists in China. 

The dogma of transmigration is degrading to 
man in every feature of it. It places him on a 
level with the beasts that perish, and in its practi- 
cal workings sinks him far below the irrational cre- 
ation, even to the vilest and most disgusting forms 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 1 27 

of life. To-day he is a man with reason, affections, 
hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows; to-morrow he is 
a whining dog, the companion of owls and bats, 
or a wild beast of the jungle ; to-day he may com- 
mand an army or rule a nation; to-morrow he 
may be chased by the hunter's hounds! 

An old man in China once said to a missionary: 
"I have for some time past lived on the emperor's 
benevolence. The priests assure me that after 
death I shall be obliged to repay the emperor's 
generosity by becoming a post horse to carry his 
dispatches. They exhort me to take care not to 
stumble, or wince, or bite. They tell me if I 
travel w^ell, eat little, and am patient, I may excite 
the compassion of the gods, and be born into the 
world as a man of rank. Sometimes I dream that 
I am ready harnessed for the rider, and I wake in 
a sweat, hardly knowing whether I am a man or a 
horse. They tell me that people of your religion 
continue to be men in the next world as they are 
in this. I am ready to embrace 3^our religion, for 
I had rather be a Christian than become a beast." 
He was baptized and died happy, believing that 
he w^as saved from being a post horse. 

Buddhist priests are seen everywhere in China. 
They have little influence personally with the peo- 
ple. They are regarded as mere servants w^hose 
business it is to take care of the temples, idols, and 
the furniture belonging to the temples. Thev are, 
as a rule, ignorant of everything except the manual 
service required of them, and such professional 



128 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

attention at funerals, feasts, etc., as custom de- 
mands. The literary class denounces them as an 
ignorant, idle, and lazy set, and the people gen- 
erally despise them, except when acting in their 
office as priests. Not only are they idle and lazy, 
but they are grossly immoral, spending their time in 
gambling and smoking opium. Their numbers are 
recruited from the lower ranks of society, espe- 
cially from the very poor families. 

I have thus sketched Buddhism as it exists in 
China. It is that form of Buddhism which the 
Chinese accept — the popular form — and not Bud- 
dhism as it exists in India. The Buddhism of 
India bears somewhat the relation to Brahman- 
ism that Protestantism does to Romanism.* The 
Brahmans persecuted the Buddhists of India with 
great cruelty, and this caused the Buddhist priests 
to become missionaries and spread their religion 
through other countries. They are in China, Tar- 
tary, Thibet, Siam, Japan, Ceylon, and other coun- 
tries of the East. Buddhism is the best heathen 
religion in the world. It has been called '' The 
Christianity of the East." This is a little too 
much praise. It does not approach our blessed 
Christianity, except remotely in its benevolent 
teachings. There is but one " name under heav- 
en given among men whereby we must be saved " 
— the name of Jesus Christ. 

*The Buddhists were reformers. 




9 



TEMPLE OF THE FIVE HUNDRED GODS. 



(129) 



T 



CHAPTER XI. 
Religions of China (Continued). 

TA OISM. 

AOISM is the least influential system of religious 
belief in China. It is too mystical for the prac- 
tical Chinese. Its founder, Lau-tsz, was a contem- 
porary of Confucius, and the two once met. Con- 
fucius said he could not understand Lau-tsz, and 
never afterwards sought any intercourse with him. 
His only book that has survived the ages is a work 
entitled "Reason and Virtue," an exceedingl}^ ob- 
scure production, both in style and sentiment. 

Many foolish stories are told of Lau-tsz, such 
as that he was eighty years old when born; that 
he had appeared on earth three different times at 
intervals of a thousand years ; and other absurd 
legends. He spent his life as an ascetic in solitude, 
and taught that man's spiritual nature can best be 
purified, and his passions brought under control, 
by habitual silence and meditation. 

It is impossible to give an intelligent expression 
to what we do not understand. The vagaries of 
Taoism are utterly incomprehensible to a Western 
mind. For example, the existence of the world is 
thus accounted for: " Reason produced one, one 
produced two, and two produced three, and three 
produced all things." Again: " Before the birth 
of heaven and earth, there existed only an im- 
(130) 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. I3I 

mense silence in illimitable space; an immeasura- 
ble void in endless silence." No wonder Confu- 
cius said he could not understand Lau-tsz ! The 
reader is probably in the same mental condition as 
to the meaning of the above extract. I could add 
many more specimens of the same lucid character, 
but presume enough has been given to satisfy even 
the most curious. 

The forms of worship and other religious rites 
of the Taoists resemble those of the Buddhists so 
nearly that the differences are discernible only 
in the dress and general appearance of the priests 
of the two sects. The Buddhists shave off all 
the hair of their head, while the Taoists leave 
a tuft of hair on the back of the head. The offi- 
cial robes of the Taoists are not so long as those 
of the Buddhist priests. Those of the Buddhists 
are yellow, and those of the Taoists are red. 

The Taoists profess to have great power over 
evil spirits — " the demons of the invisible world." 
The high priest, or head of the sect, like the Lama 
of Thibet, is supposed to be immortal; that is, as 
soon as one dies another is appointed to take his 
place, and the spirit of the dead priest enters into 
his successor. Thus the office is perpetual, while 
the individual is, like other men, mortal. 

Dr. Medhurst, in his " State and Prospects of 
China," mentions some curious ceremonies ob- 
served by the Taoists. He says: " Death is with 
them peculiarly unclean, and whenever it occurs 
brings a number of evil influences into the dwell- 



132 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ing, which are only to be expelled b}^ the sac- 
rifices and prayers of Taoist priests. This is 
what they call 'cleansing the house;' and as it is 
attended by some expense, many prefer turning 
lodgers and strangers out in dying circumstances 
rather than have the house haunted with ghosts for 
years afterwards." They also have a ceremony for 
cleansing districts from contagion. "One of the 
solemnities is celebrated on the third day of the 
third moon, when the votaries of Taoism go bare- 
foot over lighted charcoal, by which they fancy 
that they triumph over the demons they dread, and 
please the gods they adore. On the anniversary 
of the birth of the ' high emperor of the somber 
heavens ' they assemble before the temple of this 
imaginary being, and having made a great fire, 
fifteen or tw^enty feet in diameter, they go over it 
barefooted, bearing the gods in their arms." They 
chant prayers, ring bells, sprinkle holy water, 
blow horns, brandish swords with which they 
strike the fire, to subdue or frighten away the 
demons. Other ceremonies of the Taoists will be 
described hereafter. 

TEMPLES, FORMS OF WORSHIP, ETC. 

It will be appropriate to close the chapters on 
the "Religions of China" with some account 
of the temples and temple worship of the Chi- 
nese. 

The most conspicuous buildings in a Chinese 
landscape are the temples, pagodas, and the offices 
of the government officials. The temples dedica- 



kELIGIONS OF CHINA. I33 

ted to Buddha, the pagodas and shrines connected 
with this sect, far outnumber all the others put to- 
gether. All are built after the same model, though 
differing greatly in size and expensiveness. Some 
cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, others a few 
thousand, and some only a few hundred. It is con- 
sidered a very meritorious act to aid in building a 
temple or pagoda. Some wealthy men build tem- 
ples at their own expense, as rich men sometimes 
build churches in Christian countries. 

Temples dedicated to the worship of Confucius 
exist in every district and in every department of 
the empire, where ceremonies in honor of the great 
sage are performed by the mandarins in the second 
and eighth months of every year. These temples 
differ from the Buddhist temples in many respects. 
Externally they present nothing very striking, but 
within they are richly ornamented. The floor is 
paved with stone slabs. The roof is supported b}' 
immense columns, and the woodwork near the roof 
is covered with landscape paintings in the best 
style of Chinese art. There is no ceiling. There 
are no images, except perhaps a statue or painting 
intended to represent the person of Confucius ; but 
it is not worshiped. The "spirit tablets" stand 
for the sage and his most distinguished disciples. 
These "tablets" are nothing but small pieces of 
board, neatly varnished, and each inscribed with 
the name of one of the sages. They are inserted 
into little pedestals, so as to make them stand up- 
right in their places. 



134 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The offerings presented to Confucius consist of 
animals, silks, wine, and vegetables. It is esti- 
mated that there are about fifteen hundred temples 
dedicated to Confucius in the Chinese empire, and 
that there are annually offered to him sixty-two 
thousand pigs, rabbits, sheep, and deer, and twen- 
ty-seven thousand pieces of silk. These offerings 
are presented very early in the morning, usually 
before daylight. Spectators are not permitted to 
be present, and no priest is allowed to have any 
part in the service. Occasionally a foreigner man- 
ages to witness, in a clandestine way, these strange 
rites. An American thus describes what he wit- 
nessed on one occasion in the Confucian temple 
at, Shanghai: '* In front of the great tablet of 
Confucius, and a little to the right, we saw the 
carcass of a large ox, the skin having been re- 
moved, placed on a rack, its head facing the altar. 
On the left a pig and a goat were placed in a sim- 
ilar position. A pig and a goat were also placed 
before the tablets of the seventy-two disciples, and 
a piece of carpeting on the floor indicating where 
the worshipers were to kneel. The altar is noth- 
ing but a long table painted red. The principal 
officer entered the hall, preceded by two musicians, 
one tapping a small drum, the other playing a flute. 
He stopped in front of the door in the court. An 
attendant cried out to him in a loud voice, and he 
dropped on his knees. Then the word is given 
to "knock head," and the worshiper strikes the 
ground three times with his head, and then rises 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 135 

to his feet. This ceremony is repeated three times. 
The worshiper then enters the great hall and kneels 
before the tablet of Confucius, an attendant kneel- 
ing on his right, and another on his left. A third 
attendant takes a small box from the altar and 
hands it to the attendant kneeling on the left, and 
he passes it to the worshiper. He takes it in both 
hands, elevates it a moment, and then gives it to 
the attendant kneeling on his right, who places it 
on the altar. This ceremony is repeated before 
each tablet in the hall." 

The foregoing is only a part of the tedious, and 
to a stranger meaningless, ceremony. I have given 
thus much as a sample of the whole two hours' per- 
formance, enough I presume to afford the reader 
some idea of the character of the service. The 
Confucian temples are closed except on the two 
days of worship in the year, and are not therefore, 
like the Buddhist temples, places of resort for the 
common people. I visited one Confucian temple, 
but witnessed no act of worship. 

Buddhist temples are not only numerous in Chi- 
na, but man}^ of them are spacious buildings, fur- 
nishing a permanent home for several hundred 
priests, besides ample room for the many large 
idols which they contain, and the multitudes of 
worshipers who throng their halls and altars. Dur- 
ing his residence in China the writer visited sev- 
eral large monasteries and many common Buddhist 
temples. A description of one may serve as a gen- 
eral description of all, for the}^ differ chiefly in 



13^ HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

size and elaborateness of finish. Some of them 
are grand and elegant structures, others are 
neglected and filthy. They are usually situated 
on some elevation surrounded by natural scenery. 
Many of the large monasteries cover several acres, 
and are an ornament to the city and surrounding 
country. 

I have in mind a temple v^hich may be taken as 
a fair representative of all others. It is situated 
inside the city walls, and is a popular shrine w^here 
multitudes of the common people worship. The 
main building presents an imposing front. It is 
open, and the large image of Buddha, which oc- 
cupies a central position just inside the entrance, is 
visible from the time you enter the gate of the in- 
closure. This image is fifteen or twenty feet high, 
though in a sitting posture. He wears a crown of 
blue filigree work of curious shape. His throne 
rests on a square base, so covered with gaudy dra- 
pery as to resemble a show stand. In front of him 
is an altar on which incense is kept burning, and 
near it a long rack for candles. The image of 
Buddha does not resemble the Chinese features, 
but rather the Hindoo. The countenance wears a 
quiet, benevolent expression, and the whole im- 
pression is pleasing. On either side of the entrance 
stands a guardian. The one on the right hand is 
an enormous black giant, who grasps a bludgeon 
in his right hand and a da£>"p;er in his left. The 
one on the opposite side is a more fearful-looking 
creature, if possible, than the other. He is fully 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. 137 

eighteen feet high, and flourishes a thunderbolt in 
one hand and a flaming torch in the other. Near 
these monsters stand two assistants, who, though 
less fierce in countenance, are by no means at- 
tractive. Immediately in the rear of the image of 
Buddha, and separated from it by a thin partition, 
is another idol. This figure holds in his hand a 
club with which to beat off the evil spirits that 
might wish to disturb the services. 

In the rear of the front room is another build- 
ing, sixty feet deep, and perhaps one hundred 
feet wide. This is devoted to the worship of the 
*' Three Precious Buddhas." Here the priests as- 
semble morning and evening for worship. Against 
a high gilded screen in the rear are placed the 
three idols. Their size corresponds to the other 
images. Their faces are mild and expressive of 
benevolence. These figures represent the past, 
present, and future incarnations of Buddha. 

The third temple is situated still farther in the 
rear, and contains several images of the '* God- 
dess of Mercy." The largest of the three images 
sits in the middle, and the two smaller ones on 
each side. In time of famine or pestilence prayers 
are offered to this popular goddess. Her image is 
sometimes carried through the streets, that all may 
be able to see and w^orship it. 

There are other buildings connected with the 
main temple, in which the priests reside, and for 
other purposes. There are also libraries belong- 
ing to the monasteries and larger temples. In all 



138 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the rooms of the main building there are idols 
with altars in front of them on which incense is 
burned, and mats on the floor for kneeling wor- 
shipers. All the buildings are dark and gloomy, 
and the associations are not calculated to relieve 
the somber impression made upon the mind of the 
Christian visitor. 

The reader who has never been in a heathen 
temple, and who has never witnessed heathen 
worship, may be interested in a description of a 
Buddhist service. Dr. Culbertson describes what 
he witnessed in the island of Poo-to, famous in the 
annals of Buddhism for the last thousand years. 
As he entered one of the temples he heard " a 
low, monotonous chant. The priests were at their 
devotions. In the elevated shrine sit the Three Pre- 
cious Buddhas — huge idols, once gaudily gilded 
and painted, but now dingy with age. The smoke 
of incense rises from the huge censer which stands 
upon the altar. In front of the altar stand four- 
teen priests, erect, motionless, with clasped hands 
and downcast eyes, a posture which, with their 
shaven heads and long flowing robes, gives them 
an appearance of the deepest solemnity. The low 
and solemn tones of the slowly moving chant they 
are singing might, but for the hideous idols, 
awaken solemn emotions. The priests keep time 
with the music, one by beating on an immense drum 
suspended from the roof, another on a large iron 
vessel, and the third on a hollow wooden sounding- 
piece about the size and shape of a human skull.. 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. I39 

Continuing the chant for a short time, they sud- 
denly, at a signal from a small bell in the hand 
of their leader, kneel upon low stools covered with 
straw matting, at the same time bowing low and 
striking their foreheads against the stone pave- 
ment. Then slowly rising, they face inward to- 
ward the altar, seven facing to the right and 
seven to the left, and resume their chant. At 
first they sing in a slowly moving measure, then 
gradually increase the rapidity of the music until 
they utter the words as fast as it is possible to ar- 
ticulate, after which they return gradually to the 
slow and solemn measure with which they com- 
menced. Again a signal from the little bell changes 
their movement, and they march slow^ly in proces- 
sion around the shrine, while one of their number 
takes a cup of holy water and pours it upon a low 
stone pillar at the temple door. Thus they con- 
tinue their prostrations and chanting and tinkling 
of bells for half an hour or more. This is a fair 
specimen of the regular worship of the temples." 
Some of the priests in a monastery rise long be- 
fore daylight, and strike their drums and bells to 
rouse their gods from sleep. Again in the fore- 
noon they are at their devotions, and in the after- 
noon before sunset they are summoned to vespers. 
Some of the more devout repeat the morning 
service after nine o'clock at night. Besides these 
daily services they are often emploved to perform 
special services for the benefit of some living or 
dead person, for which they are paid. 



140 History of the chines^. 

Occasionally you will see a priest going through 
the service in a reverent and solemn manner, but 
usually they appear utterly indifferent to what they 
are doing. The prayers and songs they repeat are 
in the Pali or Sanskrit language, and wholly unin- 
telligible to themselves. The entire ritual is with- 
out meaning to priests and people alike. 

The people worship in the temples in a solitary 
manner, there being no social worship, except 
among the priests, as just described. The com- 
mon people burn incense, make offerings, and pray 
to some god for help in trouble, for success in bus- 
iness, or for some special benefit. They often 
exhibit great earnestness in their devotions. The 
women do most of the worshiping in the temples. 
The Goddess of Mercy is their favorite deity. 
Her shrine is covered with votive offerings. A 
few nunneries exist under the patronage of the 
Goddess of Mercy, or Queen of Heaven, as 
she is sometimes called. The nuns are recruit- 
ed, like the priesthood, by purchase, or by self- 
consecration. They are required to live a life 
of devotion and mortification, eat vegetables, care 
nothing for the world, and keep themselves busy 
with the services of the temple, attend the sick, 
and perform acts of charity. The reader has no 
doubt already perceived the similarity between 
the rites of the Buddhists and the Romish Church. 
Some of the early Romish priests and missionaries 
believed that these rites had been derived from the 
Romanists or Syrians who entered China as mis- 



RELIGIONS OF CHINA. I4I 

sionaries before the twelfth century ; others re- 
ferred them to St. Thomas, and some to the devil, 
who had thus imitated the Roman Catholic Church 
in order to scandalize Christianit}^ There is cer- 
tainly a striking similarity between the Buddhist 
and Catholic forms of worship, priestly dresses, 
burning of incense, candles, chants, rosaries, 
prayers for the dead, etc. Buddhism is older, 
by six hundred years, than the Roman Catholic 
Church. Which has most likely copied the other? 
If one has taken nothing from the other, the points 
of resemblance between them indicate a marvel- 
ous coincidence. 

To one brought up in a Christian land, accus- 
tomed to the simple forms of divine service, reading 
the word of God, singing the sweet songs of Zion, 
hearing the story of God's love for the world, of 
Christ's beautiful life, his death on the cross, his 
resurrection, his ascension to heaven, and all the 
wonders of his miracles and ministry, together 
with the '* communion of saints " and the delight- 
ful associations of the house of God — to one thus 
educated, it is extremely painful to witness the 
gloomy and unintelligible mummeries of heathen 
worship. The temples are filled with the images of 
idolatry, and all connected with the service is not 
only strange and unmeaning, but depressing and 
sad beyond expression. There is nothing cheerful 
or hopeful in it. *' Without God, and without hope 
in the world," those who visit the polluted shrines 
of idolatry find no comfort for their weary and 



142 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

heavy-laden souls, but return to their homes still 
bearing their burdens. The m3'steries of life per- 
plex them, and the shadow of death fills their anx- 
ious souls with gloomy apprehensions. Thus living 
and dying they are unhappy. 




ANCESTRAL HALL. 



(143) 



CHAPTER XII. 
Worship of Ancestors. 

BEFORE saying anything specially about the 
worship of ancestors, I will notice some of 
the popular superstitions connected with death. 
The Chinese seem utterly indifferent to the mere 
fact of death, or even of what may follow it. This 
is the result partly of temperament, but chiefly, I 
think, because they are fatalists. They do not 
believe that it is possible for anyone to die ''until 
his time comes," and then no power on earth can 
prevent it. As they believe that a man's future 
destiny depends on the amount of merit he has ac- 
quired, they expect no pardon of sin or commu- 
tation of punishment, and therefore accept stolidly 
the doom which awaits them. Some show signs 
of fear on the approach of death, but it seems to 
be only the fear which all animals feel in the con- 
scious presence of danger, or the apprehension of 
suffering, and not from any sense of sin and the 
punishment due to it. 

The superstitions connected with the death of a 
person vary in different parts of the country. In 
some places a piece of silver is put in the mouth 
of the dying. The nose and ears are also careful- 
ly covered, and when death actually takes place a 
hole is made in the roof of the house to facilitate 
(144) 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. I45 

the exit of the spirits issuing from the body. The 
Chinese beheve a man has six animal spirits, 
which die with- the body, and three souls, one of 
which enters hades and receives judgment, one 
remains with the tablets in the ancestral hall, and 
the third dwells with the body in the tomb. Those 
who are sent to hell pass through every form of 
suffering, inflicted upon them by hideous mon- 
sters, and are at last released to wander about 
as homeless demons to torment mankind, or vex 
themselves in the bodies of animals or reptiles. 
The priests are employed to pray for those who 
are supposed to be sent to hell, and after a serv- 
ice, longer or shorter, according to the sum of 
money paid, the priest declares the soul has crossed 
the bridge leading out of hell, and is entitled to a 
letter of recommendation from the priests to the 
powers who rule in the western heaven. With 
this letter in hand, the soul is supposed to be kindly 
received into heaven, or sent to some other good 
place. This is one form of the superstition. There 
are many others, absurd, contradictory, and so ex- 
ceedingly coarse and cruel that I forbear to record 
them. We are not responsible for the incongrui- 
ties and absurdities so apparent in these lines. 
Nothing is more confused and contradictory than 
superstition ; nothing more irrational. 

The body is prepared for burial soon after death. 

It is arrayed in the best dress the family can afford. 

A fan is put in one hand, and a prayer on a piece 

of paper in the other. The coffin resembles a sec- 

10 



146 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

tion of the trunk of a tree, being made of boards 
three or four inches thick, and rounded on the 
outside. When the bodv is placed in the coffin it 
is usually covered with quicklime, and the coffin 
hermetically sealed. Coffins containing the bodies 
of parents, and other members of the family, are 
sometimes kept in the house for many years, and 
incense is burned before them morning and even- 
ing. The coffin is sometimes attached by creditors 
to enforce payment of debt.* 

Burial places are located by geomancers w^ith 
much ceremony, if the family of the deceased be 
rich. It is important that \hQ fang shzvai — that is, 
the " wind and water" — be settled with great care, 
for if these be not right the soul that dwells with 
the body in the grave will be very unhappy. If 
the family be poor, the dead member must be sat- 
isfied with any locality, whether luck}^ or unlucky, 
which is obtainable. In some instances a space 
on the surface of the ground the size of the coffin 
is rented and the coffin placed upon it, with no 
protection from the weather. I have seen about 
Shanghai the coffin supported on small stakes two 
or three feet from the ground, and the soil under 
it cultivated, thus making the small spot of earth 
serve a double purpose — feed the living and rest 
the dead. 

When the day of burial arrives, which is usually 

* Instances are on record of filial sons who have sold them- 
selves into slavery in order to raise money to release the coffin 
of their fathers. 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. I47 

the first lucky day after death, the friends of the 
deceased assemble at the house. A band of musi- 
cians attends the solemn procession from the home 
to the grave ; the tablet of the departed is carried 
in a separate sedan chair; the mourners are dressed 
entirely in white, and the family with wailings and 
lamentations, assisted by hired mourners, march 
slowly to the place of interment. When they 
reach the grave crackers are fired, libations are 
poured out, and prayers recited by the priests; 
papers are cut into the shape of money, clothes, 
and whatever the dead may need in the spirit land. 
Paper money is also freely scattered around the 
grave to purchase the good will of any wandering 
spirits that maybe prowling about, and who might 
disturb or assault the deceased. 

The season of mourning for a father is three 
years, but maybe reduced to twenty-seven months. 
Heavy penalties are inflicted upon those who try 
to conceal the death of a parent or neglect to ob- 
serve the rites. For thirty days after a death the 
nearest kindred must not shave their heads nor 
change their dress. The best expression of sorrow 
is supposed to be given in a careless dress and 
slovenly manner, as if the mourner were so ab- 
sorbed with grief as to be indifferent to everything 
else. Half mourning is blue. It is usually indi- 
cated by a pair of blue shoes, or a blue cord 
woven into the hair. The rich often make costly 
displays of their mourning dresses. The poor 
simply do the best they can to follow the fashion, 



148 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

and frequentl3Mnvolve themselves in debt thatthe}^ 
may make a show. There is nothing in a Chinese 
funeral that suggests hope. All is gloom. The 
whole story is told in the pathetic lament of Job: 
"Man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth 
up the ghost, and where is he?" 

Funeral ceremonies, like other customs in China, 
vary somewhat with the locality. I have given 
what I have witnessed myself in eastern China, 
and what I understand to be common throughout 
the empire, with slight modifications. 



Now that the funeral rites have been properly 
observed, and the deceased is supposed to be sat- 
isfied with all that has been done, the tablet con- 
taining the name of the person, the date of his 
death, etc., is placed in the ancestral hall, where 
it receives the worship of the living members of 
the family, along with the other dead kindred. In 
some households incense is burned before the tab- 
lets morning and evening — a sort of family worship. 
In most families incense and prostrations are pre- 
sented only at certain seasons of the year. 

The great festival connected with the worship of 
the dead, called ^''Ching Ming,''^ occurs annually 
about the first week in April, and is observed by 
all, from the emperor down to the street beggars. 
The whole population, men, women, and children, 
repair to the family tombs, carrying their sacrifices, 
libations, candles, paper, incense, etc., for offer- 
ings, and there, in a solemn and decorous manner, 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. I49 

perform the rites, prayers, etc., prescribed by cus- 
tom. The grave is carefully repaired and swept, 
and at the close of the services signals are left to 
show that the accustomed rites have been per- 
formed. Until a grave is three years old the wom- 
en are expected to attend along with the men, but 
after that they are excused. 

A table is placed before the tomb, on which are 
laid the articles to be used in the ceremony — food, 
incense, and candles. A sacrifice is first offered to 
the earth, a portion of which is thrown out to the 
four points of the compass, for the benefit of any 
wandering ghosts from the neighboring tombs who 
may happen to be near. In return for this polite 
attention they are expected to keep off and not 
disturb the ancestral spirits at their meal. This 
done, the eldest of the family bows before the 
table, and is followed in order by the younger 
worshipers. The following prayer is offered at 
the tomb by the more intelligent and devout wor- 
shipers : 

"1, Lin Yu, the second son of the third genera- 
tion, presume to come before the grave of my an- 
cestor, Lin Kung. Revolving years have brought 
again the season of spring. Cherishing sentiments 
of veneration, I look up and sweep your tomb. 
Prostrate I pray that 3^ou will come and be present ; 
and that you will grant to your posterity that they be 
prosperous and illustrious ; at this genial season of 
showers and gentle breezes, I desire to recompense 
the root of my existence, and exert myself sincere- 



150 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ly. Always grant 3'our safe protection. My trust 
is in 3'our divine spirit. Reverently I present the 
fivefold sacrifice of a pig, a fowl, a duck, a goose, 
and a fish; also, an offering of five plates of fruit, 
with libations of spirituous liquors, earnestly en- 
treating that you will come and view them. With 
the most attentive respect, this annunciation is pre- 
sented on high." 

After the prayer, paper money, paper clothes, 
and other articles are sent off through the flames 
to the spirit world. Sometimes the money is in- 
closed in a large envelope, on which is inscribed 
the name of the person for whom it is intended. 
After this, long strips of white paper, cut so as to 
represent strings of copper cash, are tied to a stick, 
which is stuck in the earth on top of the tomb, and 
left fluttering in the breeze, an evidence to all, the 
living and the dead, that the duties of filial piety 
have not been neglected. This paper money is a 
cheap way of furnishing supplies to the spirits in 
the other world. Ten cents' worth of gilt paper 
is sufficient to furnish a deceased father with all 
he can use, living in the nlost luxurious style, for 
twelve months. Exchange is thus greatly to the 
advantage of the Chinese in their transactions with 
their dead ancestors in the spirit world. 

The universal belief among the Chinese that 
the repose of the soul in the future state depends 
materially upon the pious services of their descend- 
ants in this world makes them extremely anxious 
for offspring. In some cases where a man has no 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. I5I 

son to worship at his tomb he either adopts a boy 
or makes provision in his will to have the rites per- 
formed. Much that is credited to filial affection 
in the Chinese is as purely selfish as any other feel- 
ing of their sordid nature. They look forward to 
the time when they will be ghosts in hades and 
dependent for their happiness upon the attention 
of the living in this world, and therefore wish the 
rites of ancestral worship to be perpetuated. Be- 
sides this, they also believe that if they do not 
observe the rites for the souls of their ancestors 
those souls will become malignant spirits and tor- 
ment them; they will have bad luck in business, 
sickness in their persons and families. The Chi- 
nese have a servile fear of spirits. 

It may be said that most of their religious acts, 
especially those performed in the temples, are in- 
tended to avert misfortune rather than supplicate 
blessings. In order to ward off malignant influ- 
ences, amulets are worn and charms hung up by 
persons of all ranks. Among the latter are mon- 
ey swords made of coins of different sovereigns, 
strung together in the form of a dagger; leaves 
of the sweet-flag and Artemisia tied in a bundle. 
The first is placed near beds, the latter over the 
lintel, to drive awav demons. A man also collects 
a cash or two from each of his friends, and gets a 
lock made, which he hangs on his son's neck in 
order to lock him to life, and make the subscribers 
surety for his safety. Adult females also wear a 
neck lock for the same purpose. Old brass mir- 



152 HISTORY Of the CHINESE. 

rors to cure mad people are hung up in the halls 
of the rich; representations of the unicorn, of 
gourds, tigers' cla\^■s, the eight diagrams, are worn 
to insure good fortune or ward off sickness. The 
av^erage Chinese believes that the heavens and the 
earth are full of evil spirits, and among the most 
malignant and powerful are the unhappy souls of 
men — "the lost spirits of bad men." 

The worship of ancestors is undoubtedly idola- 
trous. The dead are worshiped in the same manner 
and with the same offerings with which the Chinese 
worship their gods. The prayers addressed to the 
gods are also offered up before the tablets in the 
ancestral hall. This superstition is one of the chief 
hindrances to the spread of the gospel in China. 

DEMONIACAL POSSESSION. 

In addition to what has been said on the subject 
of "Ancestral Worship" it may be well to give 
some account of the Chinese belief concerning 
demons. While I was in China, strange stories 
were told me of demons entering into the bodies 
of men and women, but I had no opportunity of 
investigating any case, and was disposed to class 
this with other foolish superstitions of the people. 
So far as I know, the missionaries generally held 
the same views, and no one gave an}^ special at- 
tention to the subject until the Rev. John L. Ne- 
vius, D.D., of the Presbyterian mission at Chef 00, 
China, interested by some extraordinar}^ reports 
brought to him b}^ native Christians, began a seri- 
ous investigation of the matter. The results of his 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. 153 

Studies and researches have recentl}' been given to 
the pubHc in a i2mo volume of 482 pages. 

I knew Dr. Nevius (now deceased), and have 
the utmost confidence in his abihtv, learning, and 
strict integrity. He was a careful, conscientious 
student, painstaking and thorough in his methods, 
and free from prejudice. What therefore he has 
said as matter of fact I accept without question, 
and give great weight to his opinions. He spent 
forty years in China, and had ample opportunities 
of thoroughly testing and verifying all the state- 
ments he has made concerning the phenomena of 
this difficult and occult subject. 

I shall not undertake to discuss the general sub- 
ject of demoniacal possessions, but select such 
facts from Dr. Nevius and others as I suppose will 
interest the reader. No thoughtful person can fail 
to see a likeness in the cases here given to the in- 
stances of demon possession recorded in the New 
Testament. I venture to suggest no theory con- 
cerning the seeming analogy. The subject is too 
grave and too difficult for casual treatment, except 
as a simple narrative of phenomena. 

The Chinese discriminate between lunatics and 
those possessed by demons, both by their appear- 
ance and language. The person possessed has a 
cringing manner, and speaks in the name of the 
demon, and not in his own. The demoniac some- 
times becomes extremely violent, smashes every- 
thing near him, exhibits superhuman strength, tears 
his clothes into rags, and rushes into the street, 



154 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

or into the mountains, or wilderness, unless pre- 
vented. After such violent demonstrations he 
calms down and submits to his fate, but under the 
most heart-rending protests. 

In most cases the demon takes possession of the 
man's bod}^ against his will, and he is helpless. 
The kwi, or demon, has the power of driving out 
the man's spirit, as in sleep or dreams. When the 
subject awakes to consciousness he has not the 
slightest knowledge of what has occurred. The 
actions of possessed persons vary exceedingly. 
Some leap about violently, tossing their arms; 
others are quiet in manner, and only talk wildly, 
uttering what the demon dictates. The voice is 
changed — some imitate a bird, some squeal like a 
pig or bleat like a sheep. 

Dr. Nevius summarizes the facts which he has 
gathered from his own observation, from other 
missionaries in the field, and from native Chris- 
tians. In this summary he says: 

"Certain physical and macntal phenomena, such 
as have been witnessed in all ages and among all 
nations, and attributed to possession bv demons, are 
of frequent occurrence in China. 

"The person supposed to be possessed by a de- 
mon passes into an abnormal state, the character of 
w^hich varies indefinite^, being marked by depres- 
sion and melancholy, or even vacancy and stu- 
pidity amounting sometimes almost to idiocy; or 
it may be that he becomes ecstatic, or ferocious 
and malignant. 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. 155 

" The most striking feature of the cases reported 
is that the subject represents another personality 
for the time being, being himself partially or wholly 
dormant. The new personalit}^ presents traits of 
character utterly different from those which really 
belong to the subject in his natural state. 

" Many persons while possessed give evidence 
of knowledge which cannot be accounted for. 
They often appear to know of the Lord Jesus 
Christ as a divine person, and show an aversion 
to and fear of him. 

"There are often heard in connection with de- 
mon possessions rappings and noises where phys- 
ical cause for them cannot be found; and tables, 
chairs, crockery, and the like are moved about 
without, so far as can be discovered, an}^ applica- 
tion of physical force." 

Nearly all the incidents related in Dr. Nevius's 
book were furnished by native Christians — mostly 
by native pastors. These cases, however, have 
been carefully investigated by intelligent mission- 
aries, and no one of them seems to have an}^ doubt 
of the veracity of the witnesses. The missionaries 
in China have been very careful and cautious in 
the matter, confining themselves chiefly to the re- 
port of the peculiar phenomena, and venturing no 
hasty opinions on the subject. They have avoided 
anything that might lead the native Christians into 
the belief that thev claim the power to "cast out 
devils." The subject is curious and interesting, 
and of a nature to require very careful handling. 



156 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

What I have written is intended simpl}^ as informa- 
tion, with no definite opinions of my own, except 
that I think the facts reported are rehable. The 
subject presents some features of Chinese char- 
acter w^hich will sooner or later attract the atten- 
tion of the scientific world. 

In India, Japan, Mongolia, Thibet, and Siam 
similar instances of what the people believe to be 
demoniacal possessions frequently occur, and the 
Buddhist priests are supposed to be able to exor- 
cise the demons by their incantations. Bishop 
Cardwell, of India, has given much attention to 
the subject, and has furnished some valuable in- 
formation in connection with " devil dancing," a 
form of demoniacal possession. He says: 

" The devil dancer is not drunk — he has es- 
chewed arrack; he has not been seized with epi- 
lepsy — the sequel shows that. He is not attacked 
with a fit of hysteria ; although, within an hour after 
he has begun his dancing, half his audience are 
thoroughly hysterical. He can scarcely be mad, 
for the minute the dance is over he speaks sanely, 
and quietly and calmly. What is it, then? You 
ask him. He simpl}^ answers: 'The devil seized 
me, sir.' You ask the bystanders. They simply 
answer: * The devil must have seized him.' What 
is the most reasonable inference to draw from all 
this? Of one thing I am assured — the devil dan- 
cer never ' shams ' excitement. Whether this be 
devil possession or not, I cannot help remark- 
ing that it appears to me that it would certainly 



WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. I57 

have been regarded as such in New Testament 
times." 

The bishop says that during a devil dance in 
India, the priest leading the exercise, there are 
" shrieks, vows, imprecations, prayers, and excla- 
mations of thankful praise, blended in one infernal 
hubbub. Above all rise the ghastly gutteral laugh- 
ter of the devil dancer and his stentorian howls: 
' I am God ! I am the only true God ! ' He cuts 
and hacks and hews himself, and not verv infre- 
quently kills himself then and there. His answers 
to the queries put to him are generally incoherent. 
Sometimes he is sullenly silent, and sometimes 
whilst the blood from his self-inflicted wounds 
mingles freely with that of his sacrifice, he is most 
benign, and showers his divine favors of health and 
prosperity all around him. Hours pass by. The 
trembling crowd stand rooted to the spot. Sud- 
denly the dancer gives a great bound into the air. 
When he descends he is motionless. The fiendish 
look has vanished from his eyes. His demoniacal 
laughter is still. He speaks to this and to that 
neighbor quietly and reasonably. He lays aside 
his garb, washes his face at the nearest rivulet, 
and walks soberly home, a modest, well-conducted 
man." 

What does this all mean? Is there such a thinor 
as demoniacal possession in the present day; and 
if it does exist, does it differ materially from the 
* ' possessions ' ' of the Ncav Testament record ? To 
this question I suggest no answer. 




PR ACT K IXC, AKLIIERY 




(158) 



CHINESE SOLDIERS. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

The Sciences in China. 

THE Chinese have been close observers of nature, 
and have thus gathered manyvaluable facts in 
nearly every department of natural science ; but be- 
ing totally ignorant of the laws of generalization 
and classification, they have failed to make much 
progress beyond the observation of phenomena. 

The practical character of the Chinese mind has 
prompted them to ignore or discredit all specula- 
tive and abstract investigation, and to confine them- 
selves almost exclusively to " immediate utility." 
The first question asked in regard to an}- newly 
discovered fact is, '' What use is it?*' If it does 
not suggest some advantage in a material w^ay, it 
is instantly discarded as useless. The constitu- 
tional ingenuity and industry of the people have 
led them to make man}^ valuable discoveries, and 
to invent many useful contrivances, in every de- 
partment of practical life. But their discoveries 
and inventions have been left in a primitive state, 
little having been done to develop or perfect them. 
The discovery of the polarit}^ of the magnet has 
never been applied to an}^ extensive practical pur- 
pose. The invention of printing has not been un- 
proved since the days of the Sung dynastv, in the 
twelfth century of our era; and the manufacture 
of gunpowder, though a Chinese invention, is still 

(159) 



l6o HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

in a rude state. So it is with all their knowledge 
belonging to the arts and sciences generally. A 
few examples illustrating the foregoing observations 
may here be given. 

I. The Theory and P7'actice of Medicine. — The 
Chinese are a very superstitious people, yet they do 
not often use incantations and charms as remedies 
for disease, but employ physicians. The doctors, 
however, resort to many strange and foolish prac- 
tices to increase the efficiency of their nostrums. 
The dissection of the human body is never at- 
tempted even by their boldest and most progres- 
sive surgeons. They are therefore utterly igno- 
rant of anatomy and physiology. They seem to 
have no idea of the distinction between venous and 
arterial blood, nor between muscles and nerves. 
Theories in great variety are furnished to account 
for the nourishment of the body, and the functions 
of the several organs. The pulse is studied with 
great care as an index to the condition of the body, 
and the average doctor examines it with great de- 
liberation and solemnity. He believes there is a 
distinct and different pulse in every part of the 
body, and in his examination of the patient feels 
first the pulse in one arm at the wrist, and at two 
points between the wrist and the elbow, and in 
several other parts of the body. In this manner 
he proceeds to distinguish twenty-four different 
kinds of pulse.* They have no idea of the cir- 
culation of the blood. 

*Pu Halde, quoted by Davis; Dr. AbeL 



THE SCIENCES IN CHINA. l6l 

The Chinese doctors divide diseases and rem- 
edies into two classes, hot and cold. If there is 
too much heat in the body, they use purgatives 
freely; if too much cold, they employ hot medi- 
cines — pepper, spices, etc. They also mix astrol- 
ogy with their pathology. Jupiter rules over the 
liver; Saturn over the stomach; Mars over the 
heart ; Venus over the lungs ; and Mercury over 
the kidneys. 

Chinese drug stores contain a great variety of 
simple medicines, such as gums and minerals. 
These are sold in small packages, each contain- 
ing one dose, with instructions as to the use to be 
made of it. The people sometimes cast lots as to 
what doctor they shall employ, and also as to what 
medicine they shall use in cases where a doctor is 
not deemed necessary. Ginseng is found in all 
Chinese drug stores, and is extensively used as a 
medicine. It is supposed to rejuvenate the human 
system, and is very popular with old persons es- 
pecially. It grows in the northern parts of Asia, 
and in America. It is quite an item in the trade 
of the United States and China. 

Dr. Williams says: "The practice of the Chi- 
nese is much in advance of their theories." They 
have learned something from experience, and their 
practical turn of mind has enabled them to profit 
by experience, so that they can relieve ordinary 
" ailments " with some skill. They use many roots 
and herbs in their practice, such as camphor, 
myrrh, ginseng, rhubarb, gentian, and a great 
11 



l62 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. . 

variety of seeds, leaves, and barks. Scarcely any 
preparation is considered complete without gin- 
seng. The doctors are fond of using poultices 
and plasters of all kinds. Pills made of tigers' 
bones are said to be good for weakness of any 
kind, especially to inspire natural courage.* The 
hide, hair, hoofs, horns, and bones of the stag are 
also made into large pills, which are supposed to 
impart to the patient the qualities which character- 
ize that animal. 

Asiatic cholera has been one of the greatest 
scourges China has ever suffered. The native 
ph3^sicians can do little or nothing to mitigate its 
severity. The smallpox is always in China, and 
multitudes die of it every year. Vaccination has 
been introduced by foreigners, in the eastern prov- 
inces especially, and is now^ used by the natives to 
some extent, though, as a rule, they prefer their 
own practice of inoculation. This is done by in- 
serting a little cotton into the nostrils in w^hich a 
small quantit}^ of the virus of smallpox has been 
placed. Fevers are not as common as wath us. 
Asthma is frequentl}- met w^ith. Consumption, 
agues, cutaneous diseases of all kinds, are seen 
everywhere, and many loathsome examples are 
exhibited among the beggars on the streets. China 
suffers wdth nearly all the diseases that '* flesh is 
heir to." 

The Chinese have many medical works, some 

*A Chinese proverb says: "There is a medicine for dis- 
ease, but none for fate." 



THE SCIENCES IN CHINA. 163 

of which show no Httle research on the part of the 
authors. Dr. WilHams mentions the fact that there 
are over five hundred medical treatises in the Chi- 
nese language. Many of them, most of them, would 
be considered by Europeans entirely worthless. 

2. Chinese Astrono?ny. — The Chinese confound 
astronomy with astrology, and record eclipses, 
comets, etc., only as astrological data. A native 
writer on astronomy, who studied under Eu- 
ropeans, published in 1820 a work in which he 
gives the following description of the heavens: 
" The heavens consist of ten concentric hollow 
spheres, or envelopes ; the first contains the moon's 
orbit; the second, that of Mercury; those of Ve- 
nus, the sun. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the twen- 
ty-eight constellations, follow in order; the ninth 
envelopes and binds together the eight interior 
ones, and revolves daily. The tenth is the abode 
of the celestial sovereign, the great Ruler, with all 
the gods and sages, where they enjoy eternal tran- 
quillity." The author further says: "There are 
two north and two south poles, those of the equa- 
tor and those of the ecliptic. The poles of the 
ecliptic regulate all the machinery of the heaven- 
ly revolutions, and turn round unceasingly. The 
poles of the equator are the pivots of the primitive 
celestial body, and remain permanently unmoved. 
What are called the two poles, therefore, are not 
stars, but two immovable points in the north and 
in the south." * 

* Murray's China. 



164 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The five principal planets — Mercury, Venus, 
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — with the earth, rule 
over the year and its four seasons, and correspond 
with the kidneys, lungs, heart, liver, and stomach. 
They are denoted by white, black, green, red, and 
yellow. Any alterations in the sun announce 
misfortunes to the state or its head, such as re- 
volts, famines, or the death of the emperor. 
When the moon waxes red, or turns pale, men 
should be in awe at the unlucky times thus fore- 
tokened. The sun is symbolically represented by 
a raven surrounded by a circle, and the moon by 
a rabbit on his hind legs pounding rice in a mor- 
tar, or by a toad. There is a legend of a beau- 
tiful woman who drank the liquor of immortality 
and immediately ascended to the moon, where she 
was transformed into a toad, still to be seen on the 
face of the lunar disk. All the stars are arranged 
in constellations, and an emperor rules over them, 
who resides at the north pole. There is also an 
heir apparent, with empresses, sons and daugh- 
ters, in this celestial government. The Great 
Dipper — called the "Northern Peak" — is wor- 
shiped as the residence of the Fates, where 
the duration of human life and other events are 
fixed. 

The reader will perceive that the Chinese have 
studied astronomy chiefly for astrological pur- 
poses, and that of the science of astronomy proper 
they really know little or nothing. The mission- 
aries, especially the early Romish missionaries, 



THE SCIENCES IN CHINA. 165 

introduced some knowledge of Western sciences 
into the Chinese Imperial College, and among 
other things a knowledge of astronomy. " But 
even with all the aid they derived from Europeans, 
the Chinese seem to be unable to advance in this 
science when left to themselves, and to cling to 
their superstitions against every evidence," says 
an accepted authority on the subject. Some rem- 
nants of European science still linger in a tradi- 
tional form among them, but have no practical 
value . 

The entire day is divided by the Chinese into 
twelve hours, beginning with ii o'clock p.m., and 
each one of the hours is named after one of the 
characters in the zodiac. The native method of 
measuring time is by what is called a " time stick," 
a rude candle made of clay and sawdust, on which 
are "hour marks." "As the candle burns, so 
time goes." In ancient times clepsydras of va- 
rious forms were used to measure time. There is 
one at Canton, or was some years ago. European 
clocks and watches are now pretty generally used 
by the better class of Chinese at the commercial 
ports. 

3. Geography. — The Chinese are ignorant of 
the form and divisions of the globe; that is, the 
uneducated people are. Those w^ho have been 
taught in mission schools, or educated among for- 
eigners, know better, and these are not included 
in the above statement; nor have I taken any ac- 
count of such persons in the preceding pages, for 



l66 HISTORY OF THE CHEESE. 

my purpose is to represent the people of China as 
a body, having common characteristics, and not 
those whose views and characters have been mod- 
ified by contact with, our Western civihzation. 

The average Chinese beUeves that the earth is 
an immense plain, square in shape, around which 
the sun, moon, and stars revolve. Some of their 
ancient books so teach, and so multitudes of the 
men they call scholars sincerely believe. Their 
common maps are not only erroneous, but ex- 
tremely absurd. They represent China as occu- 
pying nearly all the land in the world, while the 
rest of mankind are left to find homes among the 
islands that fringe their western border. North 
and South America, Africa, and Australia are en- 
tirely omitted, while England, France, Holland, 
and Portugal, Germany and India, are arranged 
on the western side of China in a series of small 
islands and headlands. The eastern side is sim- 
ilarly garnished with islands representing Japan, 
Loo-Choo, Formosa, Siam, etc. 

The Chinese notions of the inhabitants of the 
" outside countries " are still more whimsical and 
silly, if possible. I quote the same authority again: 
" In some parts of the earth's surface they imagine 
the inhabitants to be all dwarfs, who tie themselves 
together in bunches for fear of being carried away 
by the eagles ; in other parts the inhabitants are 
all women; and in another kingdom all the people 
have holes in their breasts extending through their 
bodies, through which they thrust a pole, when 



THE SCIENCES IN CHINA. 167 

carrying one another from place to place."* I 
repeat, lest some one should misunderstand me, 
these absurdities are original Chmese conceptions, 
not the modified teachings of foreigners garbled 
and misrepresented by the Chinese, as is often 
done. We see every now and then a statement to 
the effect that the Chinese are as well informed on 
most subjects as the foreign missionaries who go 
to China to teach them. This is not true of the 
Chinese people. It may be true, to some extent, 
of those who have been educated in English 
schools and colleges, such as the Anglo-Chinese 
College at Shanghai, and other schools founded 
and supported by Christian Churches having mis- 
sions in that field; but such persons do not repre- 
sent the average Chinese, nor are they included 
in the general estimate. They are marked excep- 
tions to the rule. 

4. The Chinese Monetary System. — The only 
coin authorized by the government is a small cop- 
per piece called stein by the natives, and cash by the 
foreigners. It is thin and circular in shape, about 
three-quarters of an inch in diameter, with a square 
hole in the middle for convenience in stringing. 
On one side is the name of the reigning dynasty, 
and on the other side the words " current money." 
Mints for coining this "cash" are established in 
every provincial capital, under the imperial board 
of revenue. Gold and silver are used by weight 
as bullion. Spanish and South American dollars 

* See Williams's "Middle Kingdom," Vol. II., p. 155. 



l68 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

are employed in trade, and their value is generally 
understood throughout the empire. 

Chartered banking companies do not exist, but 
private banks are common, especially in large 
towns where the necessities of business demand 
some sort of exchange convenient and reliable. 
Paper money was used by the Mongols, but for 
some reason is now unknown as a medium of 
circulation. The Mongol emperors of China, by 
acts of repudiation, destroved all faith in imperial 
honesty, and the government has had little credit 
among the people since. This is probably one 
reason why paper money is unpopular with the 
people to-dav. Bills of exchange, drawn by one 
banker on another, are extensively employed in 
the domestic trade of the empire ; also promissory 
notes, and pawnbroker's tickets. The legal inter- 
est allowed on small sums is three per cent, per 
month, but usually on large sums the rate is from 
twelve to fifteen per cent, per annum. 

5. Chinese Military Science. — On this subject 
I shall sav little, because I know but little, and 
because the Chinese know but little. Their un- 
warlike reputation has been recently empha- 
sized by the war with Japan, in which they suf- 
fered a most disastrous and humiliating defeat. 
The Mongols, Manchoos, Huns, and Tartars all 
hold the effeminate " celestials " in profound con- 
tempt as soldiers. During the Taiping rebellion 
I witnessed many skirmishes at Shanghai between 
the imperial troops and the rebels, and I must say 



THE SCIENCES IN CHINA. 169 

a more absurd display of braggadocio and coward- 
ice it would be difficult to imagine. The soldiers 
on both sides were poorly equipped for serious 
work, and the whole affair was a miserable farce, 
little more dangerous than an earnest game of foot- 
ball ! Yet the Chinese called it war ! 

The regular army, so called, is said to amount 
to more than a million of men, but in the recent 
war with Japan not half that number was em- 
ployed. Of men China has enough, but of sol- 
diers none. They are a peace-loving people, and 
have conquered their conquerors by their superior 
intelligence and force of character, and not by 
arms. The present rulers of China have become 
Chinese in everything but name, and so it was with 
the Mongols and Tartars. 

The Chinese arms consist principally of bows 
and arrows, spears, matchlocks, swords, and can- 
non of various sizes and lengths, and of flcigs. 
Every tenth man carries a Hag. " Terrible as an 
army with banners" has a meaning in China. 
Recently the government has purchased foreign 
arms, gunboats, men-of-war, and other military 
equipments; but with these I have nothing to do, 
for they are not Chinese^ except in a commercial 
sense, just as any other article of foreign manu- 
facture purchased by the Chinese is their prop- 
erty. 

The officers march in the rear when going into 
battle, to prevent the soldiers from deserting, and 
to urge them on ! They march in front when re- 



170 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

treating before the enemy, in order to show their 
men the best way of escape ! For this statement 
I cannot vouch, though it is not inconsistent with 
Chinese character. The}' are a prudent people, 
and wisely avoid all unnecessary exposure to dan- 
ger ! A Chinese army looks to Europeans very 
much like a mob of undrilled louts in petticoats. 
(See illustration.) 

6. The Chinese have some general knowledge 
of natural history, mineralogy, arithmetic, drawing 
and painting, music, and other sciences, but like 
their knowledge of medicine, astronomy, geogra- 
phy, etc., it is extremely limited, and may better 
be called their ignorance than their knowledge of 
these things. Of natural history some Chinese 
scholars have made a careful study, or perhaps 
I should rather say some shrewd observations. 
Their countr}' furnishes a vast variety of speci- 
mens for studv in everv department of natural 
history, especially in botany and zoology and or- 
nithology . 

The domestic animals in China are not as nu- 
merous in proportion to the population as with 
us, for obvious reasons. The hog is common in 
all parts of the empire, and its flesh constitutes 
the principal meat food of the lower classes. The 
wild boar is found in some of the western prov- 
inces, but not in central China. As the Chinese 
do not use milk and butter, cows are met with only 
in the vicinity of the ports where foreigners reside. 
The " water buffalo" is used for agricultural pur- 



The sciences in china. 171 

poses. One species of this singular animal is very 
small, and is seen chiefly in the south. The buffalo 
of eastern and northern China is a large, uncomely 
creature, much above the average cow in size, with 
horns like a goat. It is fond of the water, and in 
summer plunges into the canals and pools to escape 
the flies and mosquitoes. It is a sluggish and very 
tractable animal, much used for riding and draw- 
ing in some parts of the country. Sheep are also 
raised for m.eat, not for their wool, as the Chinese 
do not wear woolen clothing. 

Among the many varieties of fowls and birds in 
China, the gold and silver pheasants are conspicu- 
ous. They are splendid specimens of the feathered 
tribes. It is said that one kind, found in the north 
of China, has tail feathers six feet long. I have 
seen in an aviary at Shanghai (Mr. Beale's) two 
of these magnificent birds, surpassing in splendor 
of plumage the celebrated birds of paradise. The 
country abounds in wild fowl of all kinds — geese, 
ducks, pheasants, partridges, grouse, etc. The lim- 
its assigned to this chapter will not permit of further 
notice of the many interesting specimens belong- 
ing to this department of natural history. 



^-.vf 




K/ 








r 




'"^^^ >J 



CHINESE CARPENTER. 




CHINESE BLACKSMITH. 



(172) 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Architecture op" the Chinese. 

CHINESE architecture, like everything else in 
that strange country, is unique. The orig- 
inal model was evidently the tent^ for in all their 
public and private buildings, from the emperor's 
palace to the fisherman's hut, the resemblance to 
this type prevails. There are no indications that 
any effort has been made to develop this simple 
model into anything higher, or to erect any grand 
and imposing buildings after the Hindoo or Eu- 
ropean style. The type is not only primitive, but 
the material, as a rule, is inferior, and the w^ork- 
manship clumsy. The structures are consequently 
generally of a fragile and unsubstantial character. 
These remarks do not apply to all the buildings, 
however, but to the ordinary dwellings of the peo- 
ple, which, of course, constitute the principal part 
of the architecture in city and country. There 
are no ancient monuments except, perhaps, a few 
temples and pagodas. There are no great historic 
ruins. The Great Wall of China may be an excep- 
tion to this remark, for it was built B.C. 220, and 
is — much of it — in ruins. China has nothing, how- 
ever, to compare with the pyramids of Egypt or 
the ruins of Babylon. The Chinese have not trav- 

(173) 



174 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

eled in other lands, or, if they have, they have 
kept their eyes shut. Their absurd vanity has led 
them to despise all other people as uncultivated 
barbarians. One of their writers thus congratu- 
lates himself: "I felicitate myself that I was born 
in China, and constantly think how different it 
would have been if I had been born beyond the 
seas in some remote part of the earth, where the 
people, far removed from the converting maxims 
of the ancient kings, and ignorant of the domestic 
relations, are clothed with the leaves of plants, eat 
wood, and dwell in the wilderness, and live in the 
holes of the earth. Though born in the world in 
such a condition, I should not have been different 
from the beasts of the field. But now, happily, I 
have been born in the INIiddle Kingdom. I have 
a house to live in; have food and drink, and ex- 
cellent furniture; felicity is mine." This self-sat- 
isfied egotist but voices the common sentiment of 
his fellow-countrymen. We are the barbarians. 
How could they expect to learn anything from us ? 
In the matter of architecture they have certainly 
learned nothing. 

The dwelling houses of the Chinese are gener- 
ally only one story high, with no cellars, base- 
ments, or attics. The building materials are bricks, 
matting, wood, and sifted earth made into a kind 
of concrete. The roof is made of brick tiling. 
Where stone is abundant, the foundations of the 
houses are made of it, and are usually very sub- 
stantial. In many places, however, as at Shang- 



ARCHITECTURE. 1 75 

hai, stone is too expensive for such use, and the 
houses rest on the soil, the whole structure being 
supported by a wooden framework, which, like 
a skeleton, furnishes support and gives shape to 
the building. The walls are made of bricks filled 
in between the upright posts, which support the 
roof of the house. The fronts of the dwelling 
houses have no openings except the doors, with 
now and then a small square window glazed wdth 
oyster shells. This monotonous front is unrelieved 
by porticoes, steps, or front yards. The better class 
of houses have inside the outer or street door a 
small quadrangle, where company is received. 

Although the general arrangement of the dwell- 
ing houses is substantially the same, yet climate 
and other causes require some modifications. In 
the southern and more temperate parts of the em- 
pire no provision is made for warming the houses, 
but in the colder regions, as at Peking, ranges and 
braziers are used for the purpose of heating the 
bedrooms. In the less frigid parts of the country 
the addition of another garment is made to supply 
the place of artificial heat. The number of jackets 
worn indicates the degrees of cold or heat — the com- 
mon thermometer; so many "jackets cold " means 
so many degrees. The people use foot-stoves and 
hand-stoves when the weather is very cold. These 
stoves are often very handsome. They are kept 
warm by a preparation of pulverized charcoal, 
which burns slowly and gives out heat steadily. 
They are very convenient and comfortable. 



176 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The houses of the very poor are, as a rule, dark, 
dirty, and without floors — utterly comfortless. The 
whole family often live, eat, and sleep in a single 
room, with the pigs, dogs, and chickens. The 
furniture consists, perhaps, of a few broken dish- 
es, a rickety stool or chair, and miserable substi- 
tutes for beds — a little straw and a few rags. The 
homes of the poor are always open to the gaze of 
the passer-by, and to the intrusion of inquisitive 
strangers. I have been in many such houses, but 
only once was I permitted to enter the home of a 
rich family, and then only as far as the library. 
I saw only the male members of the family. I can- 
not therefore describe the interior of that home, 
for I did not see it. The masonry of the Chinese 
is showy, but unsubstantial, and when neglected 
soon falls into ruinous decay. It requires constant 
repairs, and is therefore expensive. When new it 
looks rather pretty, but a few seasons wear off the 
flimsy tinsel, and it looks old and shabby. 

Public buildings and business houses necessarily 
differ in style and arrangement from the dwelling 
houses. Temples and assembly halls are almost 
the only public edifices in China, except the gov- 
ernment buildings, in which the mandarins have 
their offices. The assembly halls resemble in gen- 
eral appearance the warehouses, having one large 
room for public meetings. It is said there are 
more than a hundred in the city of Canton, and a 
corresponding number in all the cities of the em- 
pire. All the dwelling houses, halls, stores, and 



ARCHITECTURE. I77 

shops pay a ground rent to the government, the 
amount of the tax being regulated by the locahty, 
size, and value of the land occupied. 

Taverns are numerous, but do not compare w^ith 
our Western hotels in size or accommodations. 
They are caravansaries rather than inns or hotels, 
places where the traveler, who carries his own 
bedding and provision, may spend a night. Board- 
ing houses, as they exist in Western cities, are un- 
known in China. Grog shops, gin palaces, or sa- 
loons, distinct from the restaurant, do not exist. 
The Chinese drink " wine," a liquor distilled from 
rice. It is taken at meals, and is always swallowed 
hot, like our preparation of coffee and tea. The 
Chinese moralists have always condemned wine- 
drinking as a vice, and drunkenness is not com- 
mon among any class. Opium-smoking is the na- 
tional form of intemperance, and opium shops are 
as common in China as drinking saloons are in 
our country. " Tea shops," where at any time, 
for a few mills, you can get a cup of the refresh- 
ing beverage, exist in all parts of the city and 
country, and are always thronged. 

No picture of a Chinese landscape is complete 
without one or more -pagodas. These are so fa- 
miliar to the eye of the reader, as represented in 
our geographies, that a description is unnecessary. 
They are connected with Buddhism, and accord- 
ing to the superstitions of that sect bring good 
luck to the city and surrounding country as far 
as they can be seen. They are therefore usually 
1^ 



178 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

placed on some elevation, the higher the better, 
and so protect a large radius. They are strongly 
built, and are the only architectural monuments of 
any great antiquity in China. The word -pagoda 
is a word brought from India, and originally meant 
a temple, but it is used by foreigners to designate 
the Chinese tower. The native word for pagoda 
in China is iah. It is not a temple, but, as above 
stated, is intended in some way to promote good 
luck. It is an ornament to the landscape, whatever 
else it may be. The great porcelain tower, or pa- 
goda, at Nanking, destroyed by the Taiping in- 
surgents in 1855, was one of the most unique and 
beautiful structures in the world. 

The Chinese have built many bridges across 
rivers, lakes, and mountain gorges, but my limits 
will permit only a mention of the fact. There is 
a bridge of ninety arches near Hangchow. I 
remember to have seen one of fifty-three arches. 
The Chinese built suspension bridges at an early 
day, long before one had been erected in the 
West. They are said to be the first people to use 
iron in the construction of bridges. 

The Chinese have made little improvement in 
the art of military fortifications for centuries, and 
are therefore very far behind the times, as the 
recent war with Japan abundant!}' demonstrated. 
China has probably learned some things concern- 
ing the arts of modern warfare during the last few 
months. She has certainly paid well for the les- 
son, whether she profits by it or not. 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Dress of the Chinese. 

THE full dress of the Chinese, both of the men 
and women, when you have once become ac- 
customed to it, is not displeasing. It is in a gen- 
eral way commodious and graceful, warm in the 
winter and reasonably cool in the summer. The 
shaven crown of the men, with the long braided 
cue, and the cramped feet of the women, al- 
ways offend the taste of Western people. They 
are essentially ugly, for they are unnatural de- 
formities. The Chinese, however, affect to admire 
them, notwithstanding they are really badges of 
inferiority ; the cue being the sign of political sub- 
jugation, and the cramped feet of the women a 
sign of their social and domestic servitude. In 
this, " they glory in their shame." 

Fashions in dress exist in China as in our own 
country, but they do not change so often. The 
general style of the present time has not changed 
for centuries, and garments of fur or silk are 
handed down for generations, never being aban- 
doned because out of fashion. I once had a 
teacher in China who wore, with pride, an outer 
garment which belonged to his grandfather. The 
teacher was then himself an old man, and his son 

(179) 



i8o 



HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 



was looking forward to the time when the ancient 
tunic would become his property, and perhaps de- 
scend to his grandson. The fabrics most worn by 
the Chinese are silk, cotton, and linen for summer, 
with the addition of skins and fur in winter; wool- 
en cloth is used sparingl}^ and is not manufactured 
by the Chinese. Leather is used in some parts of 




CHINESE TAILOR. 



the empire for the soles of shoes, but felt is more 
common. The shoes worn by laborers appear 
very clumsy to a foreigner, and are stiff and heavy. 
The women wear shoes made of silk with felt soles, 
and of a ridiculously small size. 

The chief articles of dress worn by the Chinese 
men are inner and outer tunics of various lengths. 



THE DRESS OF THE CniNESE. l8l 

made of cotton or silk, reaching below the loins, 
frequently extending to the feet. The lapel folds 
over the breast and is fastened on the left side. 
The neck is left uncovered. The sleeves, much 
wider and longer than the arms, have no cuffs or 
facings, and are used for pockets. It is astonish- 
ing how many articles a Chinaman can stow away 
in the sleeves of his dress. In robes of ceremony 
the ends of the sleeves are cut to resemble a 
horse's hoof. The lower part of the body is cov- 
ered by a pair of loose trousers made of silk or 
satin, with cloth stockings reaching to the knees. 
In winter leggings are added to keep the lower 
limbs comfortable. The thick felt soles of shoes 
are intended to keep the feet dry and w^arm in the 
absence of fire; not for ornament, certainly. One 
writer has said, speaking of their shoes, that '* the 
Chinese carry the floors of their houses on the soles 
of their feet." 

The ancient Chinese suffered their hair to grow 
long, and bound it in a neat coil on top of the 
head. The present style of shaving the head 
and wearing the cue was imposed upon them by 
their conquerors, the Manchoo Tartars. The head 
is shaved to the crown, and the hair carefully 
braided in a single plait behind. The Chinese 
hat indicates the literary grade or official rank of 
the wearer. The head is usually covered in win- 
ter by a silk skullcap, or felt hat of peculiar shape. 
Most men go bareheaded in summer, especially in 
the southern provinces. Outdoor laborers wear 



l82 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

in summer an umbrella-shaped hat, made of bam- 
boo, and very large. It is a good protection from 
the fierce heat of the sun. Head coverings, how- 
ever, vary in different parts of the empire accord- 
ing to climate, taste, or convenience. 

The dress of the women in China, like that of 
the men, does not change with the phases of the 
moon, but remains substantially the same through 
many generations. The fashion is sure to last as 
long as the gown. The dresses of the common 
people, men and women, resemble each other so 
much that a stranger is at a loss to distinguish one 
from the other. For this reason I shall not dwell 
upon the subject of female dress. Besides, I have 
neither the information nor the genius to discuss 
successfully so delicate and difficult a subject. 
There are differences, of course, between the 
dresses of the men and the women, which, on 
better acquaintance, become evident enough. 
The women seldom wear white, blue being their 
favorite color. The headdress of married fe- 
males is very becoming. No caps, bonnets, hoods, 
or veils are worn abroad ; a light umbrella is used 
to protect them from the sun. Bangles, bracelets, 
and earrings are worn by all classes, more as am- 
ulets to ward off evil influences than as ornaments. 

The cramping of the feet of female children is 
one of the strangest customs in China. There is 
a difference of opinion among writers on the sub- 
ject as to the origin of this absurd custom. Some 
say that it arose from a desire to flatter a popular 



THE DRESS OF THE CHINESE, 



183 



empress of China who had chib feet. Others say 
that it gradually came into use from the great de- 
sire among the women to have small feet. Again 
it is said that it was imposed upon them by their 
husbands to keep them from gadding about. We 
doubt this. Women are not so easily " imposed 





■ ^t / 










CHINESE SHOEMAKER. 



upon" by their husbands, even in China. When 
the Manchoo Tartars took possession of China, 
before they had really subdued all the provinces, 
they ordered the men in China to have their heads 
shaved and wear the cue, as a sign of allegiance 
to the new dynasty, on penalty of death ; and that 



184 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the women change the manner of fastening their 
outer tunics. The men, it is said, obe3'ed the or- 
der promptly; but the women obstinately refused, 
and though many of them were put to death, they 
would not yield, and continued to fasten their 
dresses as their grandmothers did, and as every 
Chinese woman does to-da}^ Whatever be the 
facts as to the history of cramping the feet, I take 
it the women adopted the practice voluntarily. It 
is certainly a very extraordinary custom, and one 
for which it is impossible to see any good reason. 
It must be very painful; it disfigures the person, 
renders walking difficult, and has no compensating 
benefits ; yet the Chinese women adhere obstinately 
to the practice. I have seen grown women, who 
were mothers, wearing shoes not more than three 
inches long. They could not walk with any ease 
or grace. Many cannot even hobble along with- 
out assistance, yet they not onl}^ endure the pain 
and inconvenience themselves, but inflict the hor- 
rid custom upon their daughters while children. 

The Chinese women use cosmetics to beautify 
their faces, but really and practically to the serious 
injury of the skin. When in full dress, the face 
is entirely covered with white paint, except the 
cheeks and lips, which are touched with rouge. 
This gives the countenance an unnatural appear- 
ance, as if it had been whitewashed. The belle is 
described as having " cheeks like almond flowers, 
lips like the peach bloom, a waist as the willow 
leaf, eyes bright as dancing ripples in the sun, and 



THE DRESS OF THE CHINESE. 185 

footsteps like the lotus flower." An American 
writer thus describes a well-dressed Chinese gen- 
tleman: "He wears by his side a variety of ac- 
couterments, which strike a stranger as being of 
a warlike character, but on closer inspection prove 
to be very peaceful appendages. A worked silk 
sheath incloses a fan ; a small leather bag, not 
unlike a cartouch box, suspended to the belt, sup- 
plies flint and steel for lighting his pipe; and the 
tobacco is carried in an embroidered purse or 
pouch." Although thus arrayed, and easily mis- 
taken for a walking armory, he is one of the most 
harmless creatures of his kind in the land. He is 
simply a well-dressed Chinaman. 




STREET RESTAURANT, 



(186) 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Diet of the Chinese. 

THE Chinese are not cannibals, nor are they 
wild savages eating their food raw. They 
know how to cook and how to eat. Tlieir fondness 
for puppies, cats, rats, snakes, etc., has been great- 
ly exaggerated. In some provinces in the south, and 
it may be in other parts of the empire, such crea- 
tures are used for food, but in eastern China, about 
Shanghai, I never saw or heard of such a thing. 
Men are seen on the streets of Slianghai with rats 
in baskets, and, like the common hucksters, have 
a peculiar cr}^; but they are rat-catchers, and not 
rat-sellers. They will clear your house of rats in 
a short time for a few cents, but they do not eat 
rats, nor sell them to other people to be eaten. A 
stranger, seeing one of these " rat-catchers " pass- 
ing along the street, and hearing his cr}^, and be- 
ing ignorant of his language, naturally supposes 
he wishes to sell his rats; and for what purpose, if 
not for food? Dr. Williams says of Canton: "A 
few kittens and puppies are sold alive in baskets, 
mewing and yelping as if in anticipation of their 
fate, or from pain caused b}^ pinching and hand- 
ling them," etc. It is true, therefore, that some 
Chinese do eat rats, kittens, and puppies, but such 
food is by no means common. 

(187) 



l88 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The common diet of the Chinese is sufficient in 
variety, in wholesomeness, and in quantity to fur- 
nish a ver}^ comfortable menu. The method of 
preparing their food does not always please a for- 
eign palate ; neither does our method please the 
Chinese taste. Our cheese, for instance, the}^ can- 
not tolerate for a moment; and so also of our but- 
ter, and other dishes. The free use of vegetable 
oil in the preparation of most Chinese dishes is 
offensive to foreigners. Every nation has its own 
method of cooking food, building houses, making 
clothes, and in these matters the Chinese have 
equal rights with the rest of mankind. 

The proportion of animal food used by the Chi- 
nese is perhaps less than in most countries cover- 
ing the same degrees of latitude. Of course the 
qualit}^ as well as the quantit}" consumed by a family 
depends upon the means of supply. The rich may 
have anything the market can furnish ; the poor 
must be content with what their limited finances can 
afford. A Chinese table seems to a foreigner poor- 
ly supplied, with no bread, butter, or milk. Rice 
is always present. Tea is used in great quantities 
by all classes, and is always taken hot with no su- 
gar or cream, and a weak decoction is preferred. 

The Chinese have a long list of culinary vege- 
tables. Many sorts of peas and beans are culti- 
vated. They have a peculiar dish, very popular 
with the people, called " bean curd." In the lat- 
itude favorable to their growth cabbage, kale, cau- 
liflower, cress, lettuce, spinach, celery, dandelion, 



DIET OF THE CHINESE. 189 

sweet basil, purslane, clover, onions, pumpkins, 
squashes, turnips, eggplant, melons of all kinds, 
sweet potatoes, cucumbers, water-chestnuts, gin- 
ger, mustard, radishes, garlic, leeks, chives, etc., 
are raised by farmers and gardeners in great quan- 
tities. Irish potatoes and Indian maize have been 
introduced into China within the last half century. 

Most of the fruits common in the tropics and in 
the temperate zones are found in China. The 
shaddock, plantain, and persimmon are common. 
The persimmon is a luscious fruit, several times 
as large as in this country. The pomegranate, 
mango, custard apple, pineapple, breadfruit, fig, 
guava. olive, grape, etc., are abundant in their 
several localities. Chestnuts, walnuts, filberts, and 
almonds are the most common nuts. The black- 
berry, strawberry, raspberry, arbutus, and cran- 
berry are found in several of the provinces. The 
Chinese have long known how to preserve fruits 
and to pickle vegetables. The common beverages 
of the Chinese are tea and whisky, and both are 
taken warm; cold water is seldom drank, because 
supposed to be unwholesome. Beer, cider, por- 
ter, wine, and brandy are unknown, except as in- 
troduced by foreigners. Coffee and chocolate are 
never used. 

Beef is not a common meat, chiefly because the 
government protects the ox for the use of the farm- 
er, and also because of the Buddhist prejudice 
against killing such a noble animal. Mutton is 
rare and expensive. The meat of the water buf- 



190 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

falo and of the goat are seldom eaten. More pork 
is eaten than any other kind of meat. Few fam- 
ihes are so poor as not to have a pig. Horse flesh 
and venison are now and then seen in the markets. 
Pork, fowls, and fish are staple articles of diet. 
Ducks, chickens, and geese are abundant. The 
turkey is not found in China. Pheasants, grouse, 
and quail are plentiful in some parts of the coun- 
try. Frogs are eaten by all classes. A writer 
thus describes a curious way of catching frogs: 
"A young and tender jumper is caught and tied 
to a fish line and bobbed up and down in the rice 
field where the old croakers are wont to harbor. 
As soon as one sees the young frog he makes a 
plunge at him and swallows him whole, where- 
upon he is immediately landed in the fisherman's 
basket, and so loses his lunch and his life togeth- 
er, for the young frog is rescued from his maw 
and used again as bait." 

The eggs of chickens and ducks are hatched 
artificially in every part of the empire. The proc- 
ess of hatching is simple, onh- requiring constant 
attention. Sheds are erected for the purpose, in 
which is a number of baskets well plastered with 
mud, each one so placed over a fire that the heat 
shall be conveyed equally to the eggs through tiles 
placed in the bottom of the basket, and retained 
by a close cover. The heat is raised to about one 
hundred Fahrenheit and continued for four or five 
days. The eggs are then taken out and each one 
carefully examined in a strong light. Those " ad- 



DIET OF THE CHINESE. I9I 

died" are left out, and the sound ones replaced 
in the basket, and kept for ten da3'S longer, when 
they are placed on shelves in the center of the 
shed and covered v^dth cotton and felt for four- 
teen days longer. At the end of twenty-eight days 
the little ducks and chickens break the shell and 
come forth. They are immediately sold to per- 
sons whose business it is to feed and care for 
them until ready for the market. Pigeons are 
raised to some extent, their eggs being used for 
soups. The wild duck, teal, wild goose, plover, 
snipe, partridge, are all eaten by the Chinese. If 
the Chinese eat many sorts of birds and beasts 
that live on the land, the variet}- of fish and other 
productions of the water which they consume is 
still greater. Nothing comes amiss. The right to 
fish in running water is open to all, and besides 
this the lakes and seas are free. Artificial ponds, 
pools, tanks, etc., are used for rearing fish by 
private individuals and by companies. Crabs, 
cuttle fish, sharks, turtles, prawns, crawfish, ra3^s, 
and shrimps are all used for food by rich and poor. 
I have thus dwelt upon the diet of the Chinese 
because the most common question asked me after 
my return from China was, " What do the Chinese 
eat?" or, " How do the millions of Chinese man- 
age to obtain food enough for all? " Of course it 
is a serious question among the masses in all coun- 
tries, and especially where the population is so 
dense as in China. To feed four hundred mil- 
lions of people so that everyone shall have a little, 



192 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

requires an amount of food greatly beyond our 
powers of computation. An American missionary 
some years ago made an estimate of the amount 
of rice necessary to furnish every man, woman, 
and child in China one meal, and found that all 
the rice raised in the United States would barely 
be sufficient, allowing one pint of cooked rice to 
each person ! 

The culinary art has not been cultivated in Chi- 
na with any great success. The principal dishes 
are stews of various kinds, in which garlic and 
grease are more abundant than pepper and salt. 
Meats are seldom baked or roasted, owing partly, 
no doubt, to the greater amount of fuel required 
to bake than to fry. Fuel is very expensive in 
many parts of the empire, hence the poor can 
better afford to buy the little meat they use, al- 
ready cooked, than to cook it themselves. The 
articles of kitchen furniture in a dwelling are few 
and simple. An iron boiler shaped like a wash ba- 
sin, for stewing or frying, a portable earthen fur- 
nace, and two or three different-shaped earthen- 
ware pots for boiling water or vegetables, consti- 
tute the whole culinary establishment of thousands 
of households. Meats or vegetables are hashed or 
cut into small blocks before being brought to the 
table. They do not use knives and forks in eating, 
as we do, but manage to convey all kinds of food 
to their mouths by the "chopsticks" — two small 
sticks, each abut the size and shape of an ordinary 
lead pencil, 



DIET OF THE CHINESE. I93 

The manner of eating their food differs as much 
among the Chinese as among other people. With 
the humble poor the question is how to provide 
food, and there is very little form or ceremony in 
preparing or eating it. Rice is the ' ' staff of life. ' ' 
The poor seldom taste meat; sometimes a small 
piece of fish is placed in the bowl of rice; some- 
times vegetables are added, to give flavor to the 
dish ; a little garlic or piece of onion very greatly 
increases the relish. As a rule the Chinese do not 
eat early in the day; usually about eleven o'clock, 
and again at night. They are a social and sensual 
people, and the pleasures of the table form a prin- 
cipal part of their enjoyment where they have the 
means to gratify the appetite to the full. They 
are not convivial — that is, intoxicants are not used 
to excess; they may be gluttons, but they are not 
drunkards. Private meals and public feasts among 
the wealthy are both dull and tedious. The intel- 
lect is subordinate to the appetite. There is no 
' ' feast of reason " nor ' ' flow of soul ' ' at a Chinese 
dinner. There mav be ' ' small talk ' ' and common- 
place twaddle enough, but the social vivacity, wit, 
and humor that characterize fashionable dinings 
with us are unknown among the higher classes in 
China. There are no ladies present, and therefore 
the principal charm of a social meeting with us is 
conspicuously absent at a Chinese feast. The men 
are simpl}^ '* animals feeding," though with much 
parade of etiquette and elaborate formality. 

The beggars in China, like mendicants in all 
13 



194 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

countries, "live from hand to mouth," and are 
often driven by extreme hunger to eat the vilest 
refuse: cats, dogs, rats, snakes, lizzards, slugs, 
decayed meats and vegetables, etc. Extremes of 
wealth and poverty are often seen in painful con- 
trast in China. 




(195) 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Agriculture in China. 

AGRICULTURE occupies the first place with 
the Chinese among the industrial arts, and it 
is annually honored by the government when the 
emperor becomes, for the hour, a practical farm- 
er, and holds the plow.* This ceremony is ob- 
served with much imperial pomp, in order to im- 
press not only the farm laborer with the dignity 
and importance of his vocation, but to remind the 
whole nation of the place which agriculture holds 
as the primary source of supply for human wants, 
and that from which national wealth and comfort 
are derived. The simplest form of manual labor 
is thus selected as representative of all labor, and 
the highest honor bestowed upon it. One Chi- 
nese writer has classified the different occupations 
thus: "I. The scholm' : because mind is superior to 
matter, and it is the intellect that distinguishes man 
above the lower order of beings, and enables him 
to provide food and raiment and shelter for him- 
self and for other creatures. 2. T\\^ farmer : be- 
cause the mind cannot act without the body, and 

* Once a year the emperor and his ministers "plow the 
sacred field" Avith a highly ornamented plow. The emperor 
turns three furrows, the princes five, and the imperial minis- 
ters nine. The ground belongs to the temples of heaven and 
earth, and the crop of wheat raised on the field is used in idol- 
atrous services. 

(196) 



AGRICULTURE IN CHINA. I97 

the body cannot exist without food, so that farm- 
ing is essential to the existence of man, especially 
in civilized society. 3. The mechanic: because, 
next to food, shelter is a necessity, and the man 
who builds a house comes next in honor to the 
man who furnishes food. 4. The tradesman : be- 
cause, as society increases, and its wants are mul- 
tiplied, men to carry on exchange and barter be- 
come a necessity, and so the merchant comes into 
existence. His occupation — shaving both sides, 
the producer and the consumer — tempts him to 
act dishonestly, hence his low grade. 5. The 
soldier stands last and lowest in the list, because 
his business is to destroy and not to build up so- 
ciety. He consumes what others produce, but 
produces nothing himself that can benefit mankind. 
He is, perhaps, a necessary evil." 

The above sketch is reproduced from memory, 
and may not be in every respect exactly accurate. 
I do not recall the author. I understand, how- 
ever, this to be the theory of the Chinese govern- 
ment in regard to the relative importance and dig- 
nity of the several professions, and it is creditable 
to the good sense of the nation. Notwithstanding 
the honor thus conferred upon the farmer theoret- 
ically, farming in China is not more pleasant or 
profitable than in other countries. Indeed, there 
are no large farmers in China. The Chinese are 
gardeners, and not farmers. The density of the 
population and the methods of cultivation make 
small farms or gardens a necessity. 



I9S HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The land in China is held as a freehold so long 
as the government receives the taxes, or " rent," 
as the tax is called. This amounts to about one- 
tenth of the produce raised on the land. The tax 
on land in the city is estimated in the same way, 
and is relatively very small. The government 
manages, however, in other w^ays to make the rich 
men of the city bear their proportion of the na- 
tional expenses. The local authorities " squeeze " 
(by a system of " borrowing " ) the wealthy men of 
the community. If the mandarins ask the loan of 
a few hundred dollars, or it may be a few thou- 
.sand, the merchant or tradesman from whom the 
"loan" is asked knows better than to refuse to 
comply. His refusal might render it necessary to 
employ other means that would greatly embarrass 
him, for there are more wavs than one of squeez- 
ing a rich man in China. In this manner the bur- 
den of taxation is distributed among all classes, 
and thus the excessive pressure on the landholder 
is mitigated. 

The legal sources of revenue, besides the land 
tax, are custom and transit duties, pawnbroker's 
taxes, " taxes on frontier and transportation," salt 
department (salt is a government monopoly), cus- 
tom duties on foreign trade, etc. The parental 
estate and the houses upon it descend to the old- 
est son, but his brothers can remain upon it with 
their families, and devise their portion in perpe- 
tuity to their children. So that a Chinese farmer 
feels secure in his home so long as he can pay 



agriculture: in china. 199 

the tax upon it. The country people, as a rule, 
are poor and verv ignorant. When a city man 
would express his contempt for anyone whom he 
wishes to deo-rade, he calls him *• a countryman " 
— or a farmer. 

The implements used in agriculture by the Chi- 
nese are few and exceedingly rude: the hoe, the 
mattock, spade, and shoyel, with a miserable sub- 
stitute for a plow, constitute the outlit of the ayer- 
age farmer. He makes up for the disadyantages 
of poor instruments by hard work. The buffalo, 
ox, horse, and mule are used in farmino- to some 
extent, but not as much as with us. You will 
sometimes see two of these animals yoked togfeth- 
er in a ludicrous manner, and the driyer arrayed 
in a fantastic suit woyen of straw, and resemblino; 
somewhat a walking ha3'stack. The clumsy plow 
barely scratches the surface of the ground, but the 
soil is fertile, and the climate friendly, so that in 
the end the industrious farmer gathers in a good 
haryest as the reward of his toil. 

Rice is the principal article of food in China, and 
its production is therefore general whereyer the 
conditions are at all fayorable to its growth. The 
manner of raising it need not here be described, 
because there is nothing peculiar about it. Wheat, 
barley, and millet are grown in large quantities. 
The demand for food in China is so great that the 
farmer giyes little attention comparatiyely to any 
other product than grain and yegetables, except, 
perhaps, cotton, hemp, indigo, tea, and some oth- 



200 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

ers, used in manufactures and commerce. The 
celebrated "nankeen cotton" is raised in the 
great valley of the Yang-tse. I have seen it and 
a very fair article of white cotton growing side by 
side near Shanghai. 

I shall omit any description of the manner in 
which the ordinary farm products are cultivated, 
because there is nothing strikingly peculiar about 
it. Of all the branches of Chinese industry, the 
growth and preparation of tea has been the most 
celebrated, and is one of the most important to 
China and to Western nations. 

GROWTH AND PREPARATION OF THE TEA PLANT. 

The knowledge of the tea plant cannot be traced 
farther back than A.D. 350. Its general use 
among the Chinese dates back to A.D. 800. It is 
related to the Camellia, and bears the same name 
among the Chinese. It usually grows from three 
to six feet high, and presents a dense foliage, the 
result of frequent pruning. In Assam, where it 
grows wild, it often reaches the height of thirty 
feet. The leaf is of a dark green color, of an ob- 
long oval shape, and the flowers are white, single, 
and without odor. The seeds are like hazel nuts 
in size and color, three of them being inclosed in a 
hard husk, and so oily as to soon become rancid. 
The tea plant resembles in appearance the privet 
of our hedges. 

The soil most favorable to the growth of the tea 
plant is a rich, sandy earth, with a large propor- 
tion of vegetable mold in it. The hillside is pre- 



agriculturp: in china. 2oi 

ferred to the lower ground, if near water; and 
usually the patches above rice fields furnish the 
best flavored leaves. It is from orchards thus sit- 
uated that the most celebrated brands of tea are 
obtained. The greater part of the tea exported is 
grown in the provinces of Fo-keen, Che-kiang, 
and Kiang-su. It is, however, produced in all the 
eighteen provinces except in the extreme north. 
It is usually raised by individual farmers, who 
cultivate a few dozen — or, it may be, a few score — 
of shrubs upon their own lands, and either cure 
the leaves themselves or sell them to their neigh- 
bors, who prepare them for the market. There 
are a few large plantations under the care of rich 
landlords, but not many. The small farmer raises 
tea as he does cotton, silk, or rice, and when the 
season ends sells to the tea broker, who carries it 
to the best market he can find. 

A single plant or tree of large size will produce 
annually from sixteen to twenty-four ounces of 
leaves. Three crops are gathered during the sea- 
son. The first picking takes place about the mid- 
dle of April, or whenever the tender buds begin to 
open, and while the leaves are still covered with a 
whitish down. These early pickings produce the 
best tea. The second gathering is about the first 
of Mav, when the shrubs are covered with full- 
grown leaves. The Chinese say that the weather 
affects very materiall}^ the quality of the leaves, 
and that when the proper time comes the picking 
should be done as rapidly as possible. The leaves 



202 



HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 



are put into a basket and taken to the curing 
houses. The third and hist picking of leaves 
takes place in Jul}^ There is " a gleaning" or 
picking in August, called "autumn dew," which 
produces an inferior qualit}^ of tea. The quality 
of the different kinds of tea depends upon the na- 
ture of the soil, climate, age of the leaf, and the 
manner of curinj 




TEA-CURING HOUSE. 



After the leaves are gathered and housed, they 
are carefully assorted, the yellow and old ones 
picked out. The remainder of the "picking" is 
spread on bamboo tra3^s, and placed where the 
wind can blow upon them until they begin to 
soften; then, while lying upon the tray, the}" are 
gently rolled and rubbed for some time, when red 



Agriculturp: in china. 203 

spots appear upon them. They are then tested by 
pouring hot water upon them to see if the edge of 
the leaf turns 3'ellow. The leaves must be rolled 
many times, and then " fired." The pan in which 
the leaves are to be put is heated to a proper tem- 
perature, and the workman takes a handful of 
leaves and sprinkles them upon it and waits until 
each leaf " pops," when he instantly brushes them 
off before they are charred. Such is the account 
which the Chinese give of the manner in which 
the tea is prepared in the Bohea hills. The test- 
ing and rolling are omitted in preparing the com- 
mon sorts of tea. The fresh leaves are thrown 
into the heated pans and kept in motion until the 
oil is forced out and they burst open. After four 
or five minutes they are taken out and rolled. 
This operation is performed on tables made of 
split bamboos. After the leaves are thus rolled 
they are shaken out loosely and placed on trays to 
complete the necessary drying.* The common 
sorts of black tea are left in the sun and air after 
the first process of firing and rolling, a much long- 
er time — even for days, especially if the tea is in- 
tended for the foreign market. 

As soon as the process of curing is finished, the 
finer quality is inclosed in canisters or small paper 
bags, and packed in boxes lined with lead. The 
tea is then ready for the broker, who purchases it 
directly from the producer, and carries it to some 
seaport where it is prepared for shipment to for- 

*Dr. Williams; Chinese Repository. 



204 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

eign countries, or sold to Chinese merchants for 
home consumption. 

The question is often asked whether the differ- 
ent kinds of tea come from the same shrub, or 
whether there are varieties of the same plant — a 
black tea plant, and a green tea plant, etc. There 
is but one plant, from which all the kinds of tea 
known to the trade are made. The differences 
which characterize each kind are the result of the 
manner in which the leaf is manipulated. Green 
tea is cured more rapidly than black tea, and is 
not thrown into baskets after it is fired. Green 
tea can be changed into black tea, but black tea 
cannot be changed into green tea. More of the 
essential oil remains in the green tea than in the 
black, and this is the cause, perhaps, of the differ- 
ence in the flavor of the two kinds. 

There may be some difference in the peculiar 
qualit}^ of the plant, caused by a difference of soil 
and climate, for it is raised over a large extent of 
countr}^, covering several degrees of latitude; but 
the difference cannot be detected in the leaf when 
green or dried. Tea is a universal beverage in 
China and Japan, and is used extensively in Mon- 
golia, Siam, and other neighboring countries. It 
is regarded as very wholesome b}^ the Chinese, 
and is used as a substitute for cold water as a 
drink. Tea shops are seen everywhere in cities, 
towns, and villages, and even in the hamlets 
throughout the rural districts. Everybody drinks 
tea everywhere and at all times. 




CHINESE LOOM. 



\T^ 




REELING SILK. 



(205) 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Manufactures in China.: 

PORCELAIN. 

THE Chinese are an ingenious people, and in no 
department of industry have they displayed 
their originality more than in their arts and manu- 
factures. In early discoveries and inventions they 
have no rivals. Long before the mariner's com- 
pass was known in the West they were using the 
magnetic needle in their sedan chairs and car- 
riages. So also of the composition of gunpowder 
and the art of printing. However much we have 
surpassed them in the practical use and improve- 
ment of these inventions, we must admit the pri- 
ority of the Chinese claim to be the original in- 
ventors. It is reasonable to suppose that the 
knowledge of these contrivances traveled slowly 
by tradition from China into Europe, and that the 
world is indebted to these ingenious Asiatics for 
the three great discoveries, or inventions. Porce- 
lain may be classed with printing, the compass, 
and gunpowder, as an original Chinese invention. 

The word porcelain, from the Portuguese ^or- 
cellana^ means seashell, and was the name given 
by the Portuguese to the semi-transparent cups 
which they saw on their arrival in China. It is 
therefore another name for China ware. The fol- 
.(206) 



MANUFACTURES IN CHINA. 207 

lowing account of the manufacture of porcelain 
is taken from Sir John Davis's History of China. 
I have seen all varieties of Chinese and Japanese 
ware, but I never saw a porcelain factory, and 
cannot therefore describe the process of manu- 
facture from my own personal knowledge : 

" Silica and alumina, or flint and clay, are the 
principal constituents in all China w^are. The Chi- 
nese say that they procure the material for the 
manufacture of porcelain from a high mountain in 
the neighborhood of Poyang lake. Foreigners 
have examined this material and find it to be fel- 
spar and clay, or the same as the porcelain earth 
of Europe. The silica is reduced by poundmg in 
mortars to a very fine powder. This is made into 
paste and sold to the manufacturers of porcelain. 
Another substance used in making the ware is 
soapstone ; and still another is alabaster, or gyp- 
sum, w^hich is used in painting the articles man- 
ufactured. 

"The vitreous glaze used by the Chinese to finish 
off their porcelain is obtained by mixing the pow- 
dered silica or flint with the ashes of fern. Thev 
call this 'varnish.' In painting the ware one set 
of people design the outline and others fill in the 
colors. The Chinese say the object of this ar- 
rangement is to ' concentrate the workman's hand, 
and not divide his mind.' It is said that previ- 
ous to baking the same specimen of ware passes 
through twenty hands, and that before being sold 
it has gone through more than double that number. 



208 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The colors used on the finest quahty of porcelain 
have long been admired by foreigners, and efforts 
have frequently been made to ascertain the ma- 
terial used and the manner of mixing the colors. 
Enough has been learned, however, to enable the 
European manufacturers to equal, if not surpass, 
the Chinese artists in ornamenting their work, 
whether they have discovered the Chinese secret 
or not. The Japanese have long understood the 
art of manufacturing porcelain, and have excelled 
the Chinese in design and execution." 

Besides table furniture, jars of various sizes and 
shapes have been manufactured by the Chinese 
both for use and ornament. Porcelain idols are 
common in the homes and temples; the God of 
Porcelain himself is usually made of this material. 
The tradition concerning this god is that a certain 
w^orkman was ordered by the emperor to produce 
some vases of peculiar fineness. After several un- 
successful efforts to secure the desired quality, the 
workman became desperate, and in his frenzy 
leaped into the furnace and was instantly con- 
sumed. The vases that came out of the furnace 
after the immolation of the workman pleased the 
emperor so much that he deified him. A cheap 
stoneware is made by the Chinese for common 
use. Large jars for holding grain, v/ater, etc., 
are to be seen in all parts of China about the 
homes of the rich and poor. They are very sub- 
stantial, and often sufficiently large to hold fifty 
gallons of water or grain. 



MANUFACTURES IN CHINA. 209 

LACQUER WARE. 

The beautiful lacquered ware, which foreigners 
admire so much, though not made of porcelain, 
may be classed with the same grade of manufac- 
tures, because, like the porcelain, it combines the 
two qualities of the useful and ornamental. The 
Japanese surpass all the rest of the world in the 
production of this peculiar ware. They learned 
the art from the Chinese, but have far excelled 
their teachers. Cabinets, secretaries, writing 
desks, jewelry boxes, and hundreds of other de- 
signs, are manufactured by the Chinese for the 
foreign markets of the West. Whatever the de- 
sign may be, the manner of making the article is 
the same. The body of the ware is wood partially 
smoothed, or it may be pasteboard, upon which 
two or three coats of a composition of lime, paper, 
and gum are first laid and thoroughly dried and 
rubbed. The surface of the wood is also hardened 
by rubbing coarse clay upon it, and afterwards 
scraping it off. Two coatings of lampblack and 
wood oil, or of lampblack and varnish, are now 
laid on, one after the other, with great care in 
close and darkened rooms, allowing it to dry well 
between the several coats. The articles are then 
laid by to be painted and gilded according to the 
fancy of the artist, after which a last coating is 
given them. iV very beautiful quality of lacquered 
ware is made by inlaying with mother-of-pearl 
taken from salt and fresh water shells. Another 
kind, much admired by the Chinese, is made by 
14 



2IO HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

covering the wood with a coating of red varnish 
three or four Hnes in thickness, and then carving 
figures upon it in rehef . This kind of ware is ex- 
pensive. 

majYui^a cture of silk. 

The Chinese were the first people to manufac- 
ture silk, as they were the inventors of porcelain 
and lacquered ware, and in neither have foreigners 
yet excelled them. The French China ware is very 
beautiful, but it is said to be inferior in some im- 
portant respects to that manufactured in China. 

The cultivation of the mulberry tree and the man- 
ufacture of silk can be traced back to seven hun- 
dred and eighty years before our era. Indeed, the 
Chinese historians refer the invention of weaving 
silk to the Empress Siling, the wife of the Emperor 
Wangte, B.C. 2602. However this may be, no- 
body doubts that the Chinese were the original 
inventors, and the intelligent world has agreed to 
give them the credit of it. How the silkworm was 
discovered, and what suggested the use of the 
cocoon ; how the mulberry leaf was found to be 
the natural food for the worm, etc., we are not 
informed. The Chinese have always been care- 
ful and patient observers of nature, with a practi- 
cal turn of mind which sought to improve every 
fact for some useful purpose. It is said by one of 
their classical writers that " in ancient times em- 
perors plowed the lands and empresses cultivated 
the mulberry. Though the most honorable, they 
did not disdain to toil and labor, as examples to 




CHINESE ARTIST. 




EaMBROIDERING. 



(211) 



212 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the whole empire, in order to induce all the peo- 
ple to seek these essential supports." 

The finest silk in the world is said to be pro- 
duced in the province of Hoo-peh in China. Great 
care is taken in rearing the silkworms, and in cul- 
tivating the mulberry leaves upon which they feed. 
While the worms are growing, and also while they 
are spinning, they are kept in absolute quiet — all 
noise is forbidden in their neighborhood. They are 
often changed from one hurdle to another, in order 
to keep them clean and to give them pure air. 
The worms must be fed at the right time, and in 
sufficient quantity. The mulberry leaf must be of 
the proper kind, age, and condition. Three days 
are required for them to spin, and in six days the 
larvse must be stifled and the silk reeled from the 
cocoons. This, however, is usually done by other 
workmen than those who rear the worms. The 
cocoons are placed in a jar and buried in the 
ground, being interlarded with a layer of leaves 
and salt, which kills the pupse and keeps the silk 
supple, strong, and lustrous. Preserved in this 
manner, the cocoons can be transported to any dis- 
tance. The cocoons are sometimes spread on trays 
and exposed to the steam of boiling water. After 
exposure to steam, the silk can be reeled off with- 
out difficulty. 

Che-kiang province produces the finest silk, next 
to the province of Hoo-peh, and this is attributed, in 
part at least, to the superior quality of the mulberry 
leaf on which the worms feed. The silk is rich 



MANUFACTURES IN CHINA. 21 3 

and the country well watered; the climate seems 
also well adapted to produce a tender and delicate 
leaf, and the people have for ages given them- 
selves almost wholly to the growing of silk, so that 
this province is celebrated in the silk markets of 
the world for the superior quality of its raw silk. 
The proportion of food favorable to the growth 
and productiveness of the worms has been accu- 
rately ascertained by experience, and the leaves 
are carefully weighed as they are fed to the 
worms. 

Large quantities of raw silk are sent out of the 
country, especially to France, but the principal 
part is woven into fabrics in China. The Chinese 
loom is a peculiar machine, and exceedingly sim- 
ple in structure, yet capable of producing marvel- 
ous results in the hands of skilled native workmen. 
It requires two men to work it, one of whom sits 
on the top of the frame and manages the treadles, 
and the other sits below and superintends the 
changes necessary to form the desired pattern. 
They will imitate almost any design, excelling es- 
pecially in crapes, flowered satins, and damasks. 
Many of the delicate silk tissues known in Europe 
are not made in China, most of their fabrics being 
heavy gauze. 

Chinese embroidery is well known, and cele- 
brated for its delicacy and beauty throughout the 
civilized world. It is used a great deal in China 
to adorn the dresses of the officers, from the em- 
peror down to the lowest grade; also for ladies' 



214 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

dresses, purses, shoes, caps, fans, and other arti- 
cles. All the work is done by hand, unaided by 
any sort of machinery except a light frame on 
which the material is stretched. There are many 
styles of W'Ork, all more or less beautiful. I have 
seen women at work on the most elegant fabrics, 
doing the finest style of embroider}^ in miserable 
hovels, surrounded by all the inconveniences and 
discomforts of abject poverty. It is a mystery 
how they keep from soiling the delicate silks and 
satins on which they w^ork. Much of the most 
elegant embroidery is made by poor women. 




BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM. 



(215) 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Social and Domestic Life in China. 

BETROTHAL AXD MARRIAGE. 

THERE can be no pure social or domestic life 
where woman is degraded ; where she is 
bought and sold as a chattel, and where she is 
treated in her own home as a menial. Where 
woman is degraded man is degraded. The sepa- 
ration of the sexes debases man as well as woman. 
The men become coarse, selfish, and brutal; the 
women cultivate gossip, indolence, and the vices 
peculiar to an unnatural and restrained mode of 
life. In China the separation of the sexes has 
led the men to spend their idle time in gambling 
and opium smoking. Other kindred vices have 
followed, until the whole fabric of social life has 
sunk to the lowest depths of moral degradation. 
That the women should be pure and virtuous, 
where the men are so demoralized, is hardly to be 
expected. 

In giving some account of the social and do- 
mestic life of the Chinese, it will be well to begin 
with marriage, as this is the foundation of all or- 
ganized and well-regulated societ}^ The Chinese 
have always observed and honored the marriage 
relation, and the laws of the empire have carefully 
guarded the sanctity and duties of the institution. 
Although a modified form of polygamy is permit- 
(216) 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 21 7 

ted in certain cases, a man can have but one legal 
wife in China. He may purchase concubines, but 
they sustain the relation of servants in the family, 
and not that of wives. 

Betrothal in China takes the place of courtship 
in our country. The young people may never see 
each other until after marriage; indeed, they can- 
not unless by accident, or in a clandestine way. 
The whole matter is a pure business transaction, 
conducted by the parents of the parties and the 
go-between. There may be love between the 
husband and wife after they have become ac- 
quainted, but there is no opportunity for such a 
thing before marriage. 

Six formal ceremonies are to be observed in 
all regular betrothals, (i) The father and elder 
brother of the boy or young man who would seek 
a bride send a " go-betw^een " (the person who 
conducts the negotiations between the parties) to 
the father and brother of the girl selected, to in- 
quire her name and the moment of her birth, in 
order that the horoscopes of the two may be ex- 
amined and compared by the astrologer, to see if 
their union as husband and wife would be fortu- 
nate. (2) If the astrologer pronounces the con- 
ditions to be favorable, the go-between is sent 
back to make an offer of marriage to the father 
and brother of the girl. (3) If he is accepted, 
the second party is requested to put their an- 
swer in writing. (4) Presents are then sent to 
the girl's parents according to the social rank 



2l8 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

and ability of the two families. (5) The go-be- 
tween now requests the parties to select a lucky 
day for the wedding. (6) When the day selected 
for the marriage arrives the bridegroom sends a 
party of his friends with a red sedan chair and a 
band of musicians to bring the bride to his own 
house. 

In some parts of the country mere infants are 
sometimes betrothed, and the transaction is regis- 
tered, containing the names of the children, the par- 
ticulars of their birth, etc. ; and these registers are 
exchanged by the parents of the children in tes- 
timony of the contract. After this has been done, 
unless one of the parties becomes a leper, or is 
disabled, it is impossible to retract the engage- 
ment. When the persons betrothed are older, 
the boy sometimes accompanies the go-between 
and the party carrying the presents to the house of 
the future mother-in-law, and receives from her 
some trifling articles, as melon seeds, fruits, etc., 
which he distributes to those present. Among the 
presents sent to the girl are fruits, money, vermi- 
celli, and a ham, of which she gives a morsel to 
each person, and sends the foot back. The party 
bringing these presents is received with a salute 
of firecrackers. What it all means we are not in- 
formed, except that custom demands that these cer- 
emonies be observed as preliminary to marriage. 

After the time of engagement the girl is re- 
quired to maintain the strictest seclusion. When 
friends call she must retire to the inner apartments, 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 219 

and on all occasions conduct herself with rigid de- 
corum according to the ancient rites. When she 
goes out it must be in a close sedan chair, and her 
intercourse with her brothers and the domestics of 
the household must be governed by extreme re- 
serve. She is deprived of those delightful friend- 
ships and associations with her own sex and age 
which render young womanhood in the West such 
a happy season. The Chinese young girl, thus 
secluded and fenced in by custom, has no oppor- 
tunity to form acquaintances outside of her own 
family before marriage, and after marriage she is 
doomed to strict privacy. Such, at least, is the the- 
ory of Chinese domestic life so far as the females 
of the household are concerned. 

The rites and ceremonies connected with a legal 
marriage in China are substantially the same in all 
the provinces, modified, however, more or less by 
local customs. The ceremonies here described 
are those observed in a southern province, and 
may differ in a few particulars from what is ob- 
served at weddings in some other provinces, but 
in no essential point. 

The marriage cannot take place until all the 
presents due from the bridegroom have been re- 
ceived. These are sometimes costly, amounting to 
hundreds of dollars, but usually, among the well- 
to-do classes, the sum does not exceed twenty-five 
to forty dollars. 

When the lucky day arrives, all the prelimina- 
ries having been satisfactorily arranged, the invited 



220 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

guests assemble in the house of the bridegroom, 
where musicians, sedans, and porters are in read- 
iness. The courier, who acts as guide to the chair- 
bearers, takes the lead of the procession, and in 
order to prevent evil spirits from doing mischief 
to the party he carries a baked pig, or large piece 
of pork ; and while the spirits are supposed to be 
devouring the meat, the company passes on un- 
harmed. In the meantime the bride has been 
properly arrayed, and is ready for the chair-bear- 
ers who are to bear her to the bridegroom's house. 
An elaborate and ornamental headdress, made of 
rich materials, resembling in general appearance 
a crown, forms a part of the trousseau. A large 
red mantle covers her person. Thus attired, she 
enters the " flowery chair," and is borne away to 
her future home, there to meet for the first time 
her husband. She ''weeps and wails" all the 
way, for it would be unbecoming to show any 
signs of pleasure on leaving her father and mother 
and the home of her childhood. The weeping is 
conventional, but often sincere, no doubt; for she 
is going she knows not where, and to meet new 
trials, and perhaps new sorrows. She is to become 
the slave of her husband; and what may be worse, 
she is to become the drudge of a bad-tempered 
mother-in-law. But she has no choice in the mat- 
ter- — all has been arranged for her by others, and 
her duty is simply to do as she is bid. It always 
has been so with her, and it will be to the end 
of life. She has no rights that anybody is bound 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 221 

to respect; she is only a woman, a creature with- 
out a soul and without a future. No wonder she 
weeps ! 

The procession leaves the bride's home, car- 
rying all the worldly goods which the means of 
the family will allow. These things are usually 
packed in red boxes. The courier hastens on to 
announce the approach of the procession, where- 
upon the music strikes up, and the inevitable fire- 
crackers are let off until she enters the gate . The go- 
between brings forward a young child to meet her, 
while she goes in search of the bridegroom who is 
supposed to have concealed himself. When he 
meets the bride, they — both bridegroom and bride 
— approach the ancestral tablets of his ancestors 
and worship, bowing three times in a most reverent 
and solemn manner. They then seat themselves at 
a table on which are two cups of wine. The go- 
between serves them, and they both taste the wine. 
This is the legal point in the marriage ceremony 
— " pledging the wine cup." It is never omitted. 
After this part of the ceremony has been per- 
formed by the go-between, any other local cere- 
monies may be introduced. Then the bride is 
conducted to the bridal chamber, and her veil is 
removed. The bridegroom enters and looks upon 
her for a moment and retires. The female guests 
and friends now enter, and are at liberty to criticise 
the person of the bride, which they usually do with 
entire freedom. As before stated, customs vary 
in different provinces. In some places the cere- 



222 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

monies are much more elaborate than in oth- 
ers, and many local superstitions are observed in 
one province wholly unknown in other provinces. 
The rich make it an occasion for displaying their 
wealth. The poor are unable to do more than im- 
itate the rich as far as their limited means will per- 
mit. Among the poor, in order to avoid the ex- 
penses of a wedding, a girl is sometimes purchased 
for a small sum, and brought up in the family as 
a daughter until she reaches a marriageable age, 
when she becomes a wife with simple and inexpen- 
sive ceremonies. In this, as in other matters, the 
rich do as they please, while the poor do the best 
they can. Happiness does not depend upon wealth 
or honors anywhere. The Chinese are under the 
same natural and moral laws, and subject to the 
same providential government, with ourselves, and 
we find therefore similar experiences in all condi- 
tions of life here and in China: the rich are often 
miserable, and the poor comparatively happy. Of 
course the conditions of social life are in Christian 
countries vastly more favorable to the happiness 
of all classes than in heathen lands. I speak onty 
relativety when I compare Chinese social and do- 
mestic life with our own. The comparison amounts 
to a painful contrast. In China woman is degraded 
and all associated with her is demoralized. There 
is not among the unconverted millions of China a 
single home, in the sense in which we use that sweet 
word. There are millions of households, but not 
homes, for the wife and mother and her daugh- 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 223 

ters are regarded as inferiors, as servants, whose 
sole duty it is to provide for the comfort of the 
male members of the family, and not as equals or 
companions. There are, no doubt, exceptions to 
this unhappy state of domestic life. The wife may 
not feel that any injustice is done her, and that she 
ought therefore to be content with her lot. All 
husbands are not tyrannical and cruel, and some 
mothers-in-law may be gentle and patient, but the 
conditions generally are not favorable to domestic 
felicity. 

Concubines are not married with the ceremo- 
nies just described, but are simply purchased and 
brought into the family as inferiors or domestics. 
If they have children the legal wife is accounted 
the mother^ and the children address her as such, 
and they have equal rights wdth the children born 
of the wife. The Chinese are aware of the evils 
of a divided household, and the law places the au- 
thority to control all the members of the family in 
the hands of the wife. This does not, however, 
prevent domestic jealousies, bickerings, and strifes, 
especially if the concubines live under the same 
roof with the wife. Polygamy is esteemed one 
of the luxuries of the rich, and is seldom found 
among the poor. 

If a betrothed girl loses her intended husband 
by death, public opinion honors her if she refuse 
a second engagement. So strong is this feeling 
that girls have been known to commit suicide 
rather than contract a second marriage. Some- 



224 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

times, after a girl has been betrothed, the circum- 
stances of her o^^ n family and those of her in- 
tended husband are so changed that they are no 
longer in the same social grade ; or it may be he 
has become dissipated and worthless, and totally 
unworthy of the girl — still the contract must be ful- 
filled: there is no escape for the poor girl except 
in death, and too often the wretched bride com- 
mits suicide to escape what she regards as worse 
than death — companionship with a brutal tyrant. 
Many a sad story of disappointed hopes and cruel 
sufferings are unwritten in China as well as in our 
own country. 

The Chinese law recognizes the right of the par- 
ents to govern their children, and gives them au- 
thority in all matters pertaining to family govern- 
ment. At the same time it protects the children 
from neglect and cruelty on the part of their par- 
ents. Much is naturally and wisely left to parental 
affection. Any parent, who is not a brute, desires to 
see his children happy, to see them prepared for an 
honorable position in society, and therefore treats 
them kindly, educates them as far as he can, and 
encourages them to be virtuous and industrious. 

The birth of a son is always hailed with joy in 
a Chinese home, but the birth of a daughter is re- 
garded as a misfortune, and the little stranger is 
treated with neglect. Thousands are cast out to 
perish. I have frequentlv, during mv residence 
in China, seen infant children Iving out in the 
open fields, wrapped in pieces of matting or other 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 225 

material. There is just outside of the city wall, 
at Shanghai, a tower, known as the " baby tower," 
into which children are thrown. I do not know 
that infants are ever thrown into it alive, but I do 
know that it was used as a depository for dead 
children. Nor do I know that the infants exposed 
in the fields were cast out alive, but I know that 
such was my impression. It may be that they were 
the children of the poor, who did not feel able to 
bury their dead. That infanticide exists in China 
there can be no question, but to what extent is a 
matter of doubt. It is always confined to female 
children. 

When a son is born one of the first things his 
parents do is to give him his first or '* milk name," 
which he retains until he enters school, when he 
receives his '* school name." On the day ap- 
pointed for the ceremony the mother worships the 
Goddess of Mercy, and the boy, having his head 
shaved, is brought into the presence of friends, 
where the father confers the name and celebrates 
the occasion with a feast. No such honor is ever 
conferred on the despised girl. She may go name- 
less, or receive, instead of a name, a depreciating 
epithet. When a man marries he adopts a third 
name, by which he is usually known through life. 
If appointed to office he assumes an " official 
name," by which he is known to government. 
The head of each commercial firm takes a busi- 
ness name, by which he is known in business cir- 
cles; and old men of fifty, shopkeepers and others, 
15 




(226) 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 227 

take a " shop name," which appears on their sign- 
boards as the name of the shop. When a man 
dies he receives still another and last name in the 
*' hall of ancestors." This multiplicity of names 
would seem to make the identity of the person a 
difficult matter. 

CONVENTIONAL ETIQUETTE. 

The elaborate forms of social etiquette among 
the Chinese appear to a Western man exceedingly 
absurd, and are often made a subject of mirth. 
These forms have, however, a basis of good sense. 
They are a substitute for caste distinctions, such 
as exist in India. Men are honored according 
to their station in society and according to their 
age. The emperor, being, according to the gen- 
ius of the Chinese government, the representa- 
tive of heaven, demands the same form of homage 
from his subjects that is observed in the wor- 
ship of the gods. The court etiquette is there- 
fore in character a form of religious worship, b}^ 
which the universal supremacy of the emperor is 
recognized. It is a ritual, and should be so un- 
derstood. All the officers of the empire are his 
representatives, and are therefore entitled to rec- 
ognition as such ; and as the Chinese are con- 
quered subjects, having been subdued by the 
Manchoo Tartars, their allegiance to the ruling 
d3masty must also be recognized in all official 
intercourse; hence the importance of observing 
strictly " the rites " ordained by the government. 

There are eight gradations in the ceremonial 



228 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

etiquette. The first is the common salutation 
among equals and friends, such as you see on the 
streets, in tea shops, etc. It is merely joining 
your own hands and raising them before the 
breast, with a slight inclination of the head. The 
second is a low bow, with the hands thus clasped. 
The third, bending the knee, as if about to kneel. 
The fourth, actual kneeling. The fifth, kneeling 
and striking the head on the ground. Sixth, 
kneeling and knocking the head three times on 
the ground. Seventh, kneeling and striking the 
head three times on the ground, then standing up- 
right and again kneeling and striking the head 
three times on the ground. The last and highest 
is kneeling three times and knocking the head 
nine times on the ground, or " three times three." 
This is considered by the government as the high- 
est expression of loyalty to the ruling dynasty, and 
was the form demanded of the representatives of 
foreign governments a few years ago, but never 
submitted to by any Western power having any 
self-respect. I do not know that the representa- 
tives of any nation, not tributary to China, ever 
degraded themselves by such an act. The ar- 
rogance and insolence of the Chinese have been 
reduced to a decent respect for other nations, at 
least so far as official etiquette is concerned. The 
hated foreign barbarian has walked at pleasure 
through the imperial courts, and dictated to the 
haughtv Manchoo autocrat the conditions of peace 
and the terms of treaties. 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 229 

Enough, perhaps, has been said of the official 
etiquette of the Chinese government. Such mat- 
ters are not especially interesting to the common 
reader. 

The children of the family, among the better 
class of Chinese, are carefully instructed in do- 
mestic and social manners. There are first the re- 
lations of the several members of the family — father 
and mother, elder and junior sons, and the daugh- 
ters and domestics. There is a manual of man- 
ners, called the Book of Rites, which contains 
full instructions as to the duties growing out of the 
family relations. As heretofore stated, the par- 
ents, especially the fathers, are given absolute con- 
trol over domestic life in the home, except in mat- 
ters regulaled by law or general custom. The 
observance of the rules laid down in the Book of 
Rites depends, of course, upon the degree of edu- 
cation and social culture in the parents. To quote 
the Book of Rites therefore is not to say w^hat is 
the actual character of the home life of the average 
Chinese family, but what it should be according 
to the "rites." The inner domestic life of the 
Chinese has not been observed by foreigners with 
sufficient minuteness to enable anj^one to speak 
with accuracy. My own observation w^as limited 
to a casual view into the domestic arrangements 
of a few homes of the lower and middle classes. 

Social life among the people of China is more 
public, and comes under the eye of the stranger 
more frequently and to an extent that the domes- 



230 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

tic life does not, and we consequently know much 
more about it. The following description of a so- 
cial visit, from the pen of a friend who has enjoyed 
exceptional opportunities to observe Chinese social 
etiquette, is full and accurate: 

*'A Chinese gentleman in visiting his friend 
goes in a sedan chair. As he approaches the 
house he takes out his card — a large slip of red 
paper on which his name is written — and sends it 
in by the doorkeeper, who carries it to his master. 
If his friend is at home, the sedan is carried into 
the doorw^ay, where the host meets him. The 
guest steps out of the sedan, each one advancing 
just so far, bowing just so many times, going 
through the regulation ceremony, which both par- 
ties understand, until they have reached the head 
of the hall, where they are seated, the guest sit- 
ting on the left hand, the place of honor in China. 
Tea and pipes are always presented. If the guest 
inquire after the health of the family, he is ex- 
pected to begin with the oldest member; then the 
boys are inquired after. It is not good manners 
to ask about the wife, or to mention her in any 
way. If she is mentioned at all by her husband, 
it is as ' the stupid one of the inner chamber.' The 
children are called ' pigs ' and ' puppies.' A child 
calls his father ' the majesty of the family,' or 
'prince of the home,' etc. When inquiring after 
a father or grandfather, the guest is expected to 
say, ' Does the venerable great man enjoy happi- 
ness ? ' That is, How is your father's health ? And 



SOCIAL AND DOMESTIC LIFE. 23I 

SO through the catalogue of persons and things 
about which it is proper to speak. Of course, 
among relatives or intimate friends, this stilted eti- 
quette is omitted, or modified so as to relieve its 
stiffness and formality." 

Private meals and public feasts among the high- 
er classes are exceedingly formal. No ladies are 
ever present. An invitation to dinner is written 
on a slip of red paper like a visiting card, and sent 
some days before the time appointed. Another 
card is sent on the day itself, stating the hour of 
dinner, or a servant comes to call the guests, as in 
the parable. (Matt. xxii. 3, 4.) The host, dressed 
in his cap and robes, awaits the arrival of his 
guests. After they are all assembled, he invites 
them to lay aside their dresses of ceremony. They 
are then conducted into the dining room, and are 
seated by the host according to age or rank in twos 
on each side of small uncovered tables, and here 
the feast is served by well-trained domestics — all 
males, of course. The succession of dishes is not 
uniform, and the whole feast is regulated more by 
local custom than by any fixed general rules ; yet 
there is such a sameness in the dishes and manner 
of serving them, in all parts of the empire, that a 
stranger would not perceive the slight variations 
which mark the custom in different localities. 
Usually the whole order seems to be the reverse 
of that to which we are accustomed. The desserts, 
sweetmeats, etc., are served first; then a variety 
of small dishes, sometimes numbering as many 



232 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

as forty, ending with soup. Among the peculiar 
articles of diet exhibited at a Chinese feast are 
shark's fins, bird's-nest soup, and pigeon eggs pre- 
served in lime. I remember tasting an egg said 
to be five years old ! A more disgusting morsel I 
never put into my mouth before nor since. I im- 
agine now sometimes that I can almost taste the 
abominable thing. The Chinese use a native wine 
at their feasts, but seldom drink to excess. 




CITY WALL AND CANAL. 



(233) 



CHAPTER XX. 
Festivals and Amusements. 

THE principal festivals observed by the Chinese 
are New Year^ Ching Ming — or worshiping 
at the tombs* — the Two Solstices, and the festival 
of Dragon Boats. The New Year is a season of 
universal festivity. Its approach is heralded by 
great preparations in every place throughout the 
land. In the cities, on all the main streets, curi- 
ous and costly articles are exposed for sale, some- 
times as a mere business speculation, and in many 
instances as a matter of necessity, in order to pro- 
cure money for the approaching festivities. It is 
customary to make presents to employees at this 
happy season ; shopmen send presents to their cus- 
tomers as an acknowledgment of indebtedness for 
the business favors of the past year; friends also 
exchange tokens. Just before New Year there is a 
"general cleaning," washing, scouring, etc.; so 
that even in China they have some ideas of clean- 
liness, at least of external cleanliness, once a year. 
New Year is general " pay day " in China, and 
anyone who would maintain a respectable stand- 
ing as an honest or safe business man must be 
able to settle with all his creditors in a satisfac- 
tory manner. It is a busy day with shopkeepers, 

*See "Ancestral Worship" — Williams, Davis, etc. 
(234) 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEiMENTS. 235 

who may be seen going to and fro at all hours of 
the day, and even through the night; for by an in- 
nocent little fiction it is considered da3dight with 
the creditor seeking his debtor as long as there is 
light; and when the sun has ceased to give the 
light, the creditor takes his lantern and thus fur- 
nishes his own light and pursues the debtor until 
he gets his money or loses his case. This cus- 
tom of yearly settlements saves many a man from 
bankruptcy, avoids lawsuits, and prevents misun- 
derstandings in the settlement of accounts. The 
relatives of a man in business are held to certain 
responsibilities for his debts ; so that if he seems 
disposed to contract obligations beyond his means 
to meet them, they can give notice to his creditors, 
and he is forced to make an assignment or exhibit 
assets sufficient to satisfy all parties. The usages 
to which I have referred may not be common in 
all parts of the empire, but that New-year's day 
is general '*pay day " throughout the land I think 
is true.* 

In some places the family sit down to a sub- 
stantial supper on New-year's eve with a pan of 
charcoal under the table as a supposed prevent- 
ive against fires. After the supper is ended the 
wooden lamp-stools are brought out and spread 
upon the pavement with a pile of gold and silver 
paper, which is set on fire after all the demons have 
been warned off by a volley of firecrackers. The 
embers are then divided into twelve heaps, and 

* See " Middle Kingdom." 



236 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

their manner of going out carefully watched as a 
prognostic of the kind of weather to be expected 
during the ensuing year. Other superstitious cer- 
emonies peculiar to the locality are observed by in- 
dividuals and families. 

Devout persons are as careful to settle with the 
gods as with their human creditors at this season. 
A few days before the new year the temples are 
crowded with worshipers, both men and women, 
rich and poor. Some fast and engage the priests 
to pray for them that their sins may be forgiven, 
and that they may be able to enter upon the new 
year with a clean record. Many ornament their 
houses by pasting papers upon the doors and 
walls, signifying their desire that " The Five Bless- 
ings," which contain the sum of all human felicity, 
may abide with them during the year. These bless- 
ings are " longevity, riches, health, love of virtue, 
and a natural death." These papers are pasted 
on every boat, every oar, on bow and stern, and 
every available place about all classes and sizes 
of boats. They are placed on farmhouses, on 
trees, on boards, posts, etc. The constant explo- 
sion of firecrackers and the beating of gongs 
make day and night hideous. The demons of 
discord and strife, and all that have evil intentions 
toward men or their families, are supposed to be 
frightened far away by this horrible uproar. New- 
year's day is also a great occasion for jugglers, 
actors, and mountebanks of all kinds. 

The Feast of Dragon Boats occurs on the fifth 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEMENTS. 237 

day of the fifth month, and is a lively festival. 
Pairs of long, narrow boats, holding sixty or more 
rowers, race up and down the rivers, making a 
great clamor, as if searching for some one who 
had been drowned. This festival was instituted 
about B.C. 300, in memory of a statesman who 
drowned himself in the Yang-tse-Kiang. Search 
was made for his body by the people, who loved 
him for his virtues, and this mode of remember- 
ing him has been continued ever since. The bow 
of the boat is ornamented with the dragon's head, 
and the men beat gongs and drums and wave flags. 

The jFeast of Lanterns^ which takes place at the 
first full moon in each year, is a dull and uninter- 
esting festival. How it originated is unknown. It 
is known, however, to have been observed since 
A.D. 700. 

There are other festivals celebrated annually 
by this singular people, but none that would be 
especially interesting to my young readers. (See 
chapter on "Agriculture ' ' — emperor plowing, etc. ) 

AMUSEMENTS OF THE CHINESE. 

The Chinese have a childish fondness for shows 
and public parades of all kinds. They are also 
fond of games, especially games of chance. They 
are devoted to gambling. A boy prefers to risk 
his own cash on the cast of a die to simply buy- 
ing a cake without trying the chance of getting it 
for nothing. Gaming houses are opened by scores. 
Tables with the implements of gambling stand at 
almost every street corner, and in every public 



238 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

place. It is said that the women in the privacy of 
their homes are devoted to cards and dominoes; 
and everybody who has been in a Chinese city 
knows how universal certain forms of gambling 
arc. '' Cricket fighting " is a common Chinese 
amusement. Two crickets are put into a basin, 
and teased with a straw till they rush at each other 
in the utmost fury, crying in a sharp and angry 
tone as they engage in the fight. Cash (money) 
is staked upon the result of the battle by the by- 
standers. Usually one of the combatants loses a 
limb, sometimes his life, in the fierce conflict. 
Little cages, made of bamboo, silver, and some- 
times of gold, are used by rich young men to 
carry their game crickets. Quails are also trained 
to fight, like chicken cocks in this country. Such 
is the mania for betting that a number of gentle- 
men sitting at a tea table will stake their money on 
the direction in which a certain fly will go when it 
takes wing. One man will perhaps say " west; " 
another will say " south; " another, " east," etc. 
The fly must not be disturbed, but left to follow 
its own impulses. 

The flying of paper kites is a favorite amuse- 
ment of men as well as children. The old man 
seventy years of age is seen seated on the city wall, 
or some other elevated position, flying his " but- 
terfly kite " with as much apparent pleasure as the 
ten-year-old boy that sits near him with his long 
*' centipede kite." 1 have seen kites of the latter 
shape one hundred feet in length, writhing and 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEMENTS. 239 

squirming in the air at a great height. It requires 
much skill to fly certain kinds of kites. Some of 
the more common forms have a light bamboo bow, 
with a silk cord or bow string attached to them in 
such manner as to imitate a coarse ^olian harp in 
sound. It is not unpleasant to hear a number of 
these harps singing in the upper air. I know of 
nothing among the Chinese more characteristic of 
their social manners than the simplicity of their 
amusements. They are children in this matter — 
easily amused. They have never been fond of 
gladiatorial sports, or of any form of violent or 
dangerous exercise. Fighting among themselves 
seldom occurs. When two persons fall out, in- 
stead of pounding each other, or seeking to take 
each other's lives, they enter into a stormy and 
wordy discussion, in which opprobrious epithets 
are freely exchanged. They seem to be greatly 
excited, scream at the top of their voices, gesticu- 
late violently, rush toward each other until their 
noses almost touch, and then retreat and take 
breath, to repeat the same violent and absurd per- 
formance. However terrible their threats or alarm- 
ing their gestures, they seldom touch each other. 
Duels are unknown, and assassinations infrequent. 
It is said that where a dispute becomes so serious 
that blood must be shed, one of the parties takes 
his own life instead of his enemy's, and thus be- 
comes a malignant ghost with greatly increased 
powers to avenge himself on his adversary. The 
one who survives is stigmatized by his neighbors 



240 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

as a murderer, one whose cruel treatment has 
driven a fellow-man out of the world. The living 
man can do his enemv no more harm, while the 
ghost of the dead man has superhuman powers of 
evil, and can torment his enemy at will; he can 
destroy his property, life, happiness, and every- 
thing good belonging to him. 

Among the persons employed to entertain pri- 
vate parties, or the general public, none is more 
popular than the professional juggler. He is seen 
everywhere — in the homes of the rich, on the 
public square, in the vicinity of temples, in vil- 
lages, hamlets, and country places. Some of his 
" tricks " are wonderful. In the public square at 
Shanghai I have frequently seen an old juggler 
perform. One of his most popular feats was to take 
a Chinese dinner — with all the furniture for a small 
table, chopsticks, plates, cups, spoons, etc., and 
all the food — out of an empt}^ tea pot. Of course 
I knew that it was all sleight of hand, but it was so 
cleverly done that I sometimes felt almost sure that 
it was a reality. This performance is one com- 
mon among Chinese jugglers, and is not consid- 
ered specially wonderful. The Japanese and Hin- 
doo jugglers are said to be much more expert than 
the Chinese. 

** Theatrical entertainments are very common 
among the Chinese, and when public are usually 
connected with some religious festival in honor of 
the god before whose temple they are exhibited. 
They, are generally gotten up b}^ the priests, who 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEMENTS. 24I 

send their neophytes around with a subscription 
paper, and then engage as large and skillful a band 
of performers as their funds will allow. Parties 
of actors and tumblers are numerous, and can be 
had cheaply? and their performances frequently 
relieve the tedium of private life of rich families 
who engage them to come to their houses. The 
rich sometimes erect private theaters and employ 
actors to perform for the amusement of the family 
and friends. The scenery of a Chinese theater is 
very simple, consisting merely of painted mats ar- 
ranged on the back and sides of the stage, a few 
tables, chairs, or beds, which successively serve for 
many purposes, and are brought in and out of the 
robing room. The orchestra is seated on the side 
of the stage. The dresses are made of gorgeous 
silks, and present the best specimen of ancient 
Chinese costumes now to be seen."* The fol- 
lowing description of a play, witnessed by a for- 
eigner several years ago, will give the reader some 
idea of the Chinese drama: ** The first scene was 
intended to represent the happiness and splendor 
of beings who inhabit the upper regions, with the 
sun and moon, and the elements curiously person- 
ified, playing around them. The man who per- 
sonated the sun held a round image of the sun's 
disk, while the female who acted the part of the 
moon had a crescent in her hand. The actors took 
care to move so as to imitate the conjunctions and 
oppositions of the heavenly bodies as they move 

*Dr. Williams. 
16 



242 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

around in their apparent orbits. The thunderer 
wielded an ax, and leaped and dashed about in a 
variety of extraordinary somersaults. After a few 
turns the monarch who had been so highly hon- 
ored as to find a place, through the partiality of a 
mountain nymph, in the abodes of the happy, be- 
gins to feel that no height of good fortune can se- 
cure a mortal against the common calamities of 
this frail life. A wicked courtier disguises him- 
self in a tiger's skin, and in this garb imitates the 
fierce animal in his actions. He rushes into the 
apartments of the ladies, frightens them out of their 
wits, and throws the heir apparent into the moat. 
The sisters hurry into the royal presence, and, 
casting themselves on the ground, divulge the sad 
intelligence that a tiger has carried off the prince, 
who, it appears, was the son of the mountain 
nymph who had befriended the monarch. The 
loss of his son so affects the monarch that he ab- 
dicates his throne, and through the intrigues of an 
artful woman selects a fool as his successor. The 
king dies, the fool is frightened at his position, and 
the artful woman has things her own way. The 
state is plunged into civil discord at home and 
dangerous wars abroad." 

An English writer who was for many years a 
resident in China, and who studied the social life 
of the people with great care, says of the Chinese 
stage that '"the morals of the pieces exhibited in 
their theaters are better than the acting which is 
sometimes seen in the West. No indecent expo- 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEMENTS. 243 

sure of the person is ever seen, such as ballet dan- 
cers, etc. The female characters are assumed by 
men and boys. The audience stand in front of the 
stage; it may be in the hot sun. The police are 
always on hand to preserve order, but their serv- 
ices are seldom required, for the Chinese are a 
peaceable and order-loving people." 

The more manly and active sports, such as bowl- 
ing alley, cricket match, rowing, or any of the ath- 
letic games of the West, are not popular with the 
Chinese ; they prefer to exhibit their strength and 
skill in lifting heavy weights, hurling large stones, 
and such like exercises. 

The amusements of the Chinese which I wit- 
nessed were only such as are exhibited out of doors. 
I never entered any of the '' dens," except an 
opium shop, and that only once. I never was in 
a theater at home or abroad, and saw the Chinese 
plays only because they were performed openly 
on the street, like the tricks of the jugglers. 

OPIUM SMOKING, 

It may seem a little out of logical order to class 
"opium smoking" with Chinese amusements; 
but I do not see a more appropriate place for it. 
It is regarded by its devotees as one of the great- 
est pleasures of life until the third stage of expe- 
rience has been reached, and the victim enters the 
'* regions of the lost." 

Opium smoking in China is the national form of 
intemperance, and is one of the most debauching 
and ruinous vices ever practiced by any people. 



244 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

Dr. Smith, of Penang, who had every opportu- 
nity to observe and study the subject, says: "The 
baleful effects of this habit on the human consti- 
tution are particularly displayed by stupor, forget- 
fulness, general deterioration of all the mental 
faculties, emaciation, debility, sallow complexion, 
lividness of the lips and eyelids, languor and lack- 
luster of eye, and appetite either destroyed or de- 
praved." Another writer says: " It exhausts the 
animal spirits, impedes the regular performance 
of business, wastes the flesh and blood, dissipates 
every kind of property, renders the person ill- 
favored, promotes obscenity, discloses secrets, 
violates the laws, attacks the vitals, and ends in a 
horrible death." Dr. Williams, speaking of the 
habit, says: " The thirst and burning sensation in 
the throat which the wretched sufferer feels, only 
to be removed by a repetition of the dose, proves 
one of the strongest links in his chain. At this 
stage of the habit his case is almost hopeless. If 
the pipe be delayed too long, vertigo, complete 
prostration, and discharge of water from the eyes 
ensue; if entirely withheld, coldness and aching 
pains are felt over the body, and death soon closes 
the scene." 

Suicide is often committed in China by swallow- 
ing opium. A woman becomes angry at her hus- 
band, or is displeased with her parents, and takes 
opium, and unless relieved is soon dead. Opium 
imparts no benefit to the smoker, but injures his 
health, beclouds his mind, and unfits him for any 



FESTIVALS AND AMUSEMENTS. 245 

useful occupation. One of the greatest difficulties 
with which the Christian missionary has to con- 
tend in China is the almost universal habit of 
opium smoking. I remember that while I was in 
China an effort was made by the missionaries to 
ascertain what proportion of the male population 
of China was addicted to the habit, and my rec- 
ollection is that the proportion was supposed to be 
eight out of every ten ! After a Chinaman has 
contracted the habit there is little hope that he will 
ever reform. Of the few apostates among native 
Christians, the majority, it is said, had been opium 
smokers. On the contrary, reformed smokers, 
cured by God's grace, are among the most sin- 
cere and active believers in the native Church. 

I shall not attempt to describe the manner of 
preparing and smoking this poisonous drug. It 
is, like drinking whisky, a disgusting and demor- 
alizing sight. A madhouse is a more cheerful 
place than an opium den. Indeed, nothing can 
be more revolting than one of these *' Chinese 
hells." Yet, besotted by opium as China is, the 
blessed gospel has power to heal and to save its 
millions. 




(246) 



PUNISHMENT IN SCHOOL. 



CHAPTER XXL 

Superstitions of the Chinese. 

THE Chinese are Asiatics, and as such given to 
superstition. Some one has said that " God 
committed to the four great nations of history the 
education of the human race. To the Jews was 
assigned the training of the conscience, or moral 
sense, of mankind; to the Asiatics, the imagina- 
tion; to the Greeks, the eesthetic faculties; and to 
the Romans, the development of the willpower."* 
However this maybe, we find these peculiar char- 
acteristics predominant in the four great races. 
To the Jews God delivered the moral law, and 
made them the custodians of revealed truth, so 
that " salvation is of the Jews." The Hindoos 
have cultivated the imagination. They have rev- 
eled in mysticism, religious fanaticism, and in all 
forms of metaphysical speculation. Most of the 
heresies that have disturbed the peace of the re- 
ligious and philosophical world have had their 
origin in Asia. Even the stolid and practical 
Chinese have given evidence of their Asiatic birth 
in their fondness for the fantastic superstitions 
that disfigure all their systems of belief. 

Not content with three systems of religion — 
Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism — they have 

■■■•'Draper's "Intellectual Developinent of Europe." 

(2-47) 



248 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

"gods many" besides those belonging to these 
systems. Among those most generally worshiped 
by the people, without respect to any religious sect, 
are heaven and earth.* These are supposed to be 
the authors of all things, " the father and mother 
of men and things," and are therefore objects of 
worship. This worship is usually performed with- 
out the intervention of the priests — a sort of do- 
mestic service. In some families it is performed 
night and morning; with others, only on special 
occasions. The father of the family usually per- 
forms the ceremony. He takes a bunch of incense 
in his hand and stands in the door of his house. 
When the smoke of the incense begins to rise, he 
bows reverently toward the earth and repeats a 
short prayer. 

In some parts of the empire the farmer, or the 
carpenter, before breaking the soil for sowing 
grain, building a house, or digging a well, gives 
formal notice to the earth, asking pardon for dis- 
figuring or wounding the face of the dear " moth- 
er," declaring that he would not dare to do so 
were it not an absolute necessity. Sometimes a 
priest is called in to read prayers and otherwise 
conciliate the local deity that presides over the 
ground to be disturbed by the proposed labor. 

There are man}^ other occasions when it is 
thought necessary to propitiate the earth by cer- 
tain religious ceremonies. It is often difficult to 
ascertain what the devotee means by the rites he 

*Culbertson: "Religions of China." 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 249 

performs. If you ask him he will probably answer, 
"Custom;" and there the information ends. 

The God of the Kitchen is an object of univer- 
sal reverence: or, perhaps I should rather say, of 
universal fear. No family would feel safe without 
a shrine for this god over the cooking range ; and 
yet he is regarded not as a friend and patron, but 
as an uncanny spy, who sees and knows all that 
takes place in the house during the year, and who 
makes an annual report to the powers above, 
"naught concealing" or "covering over with 
friendly gloss." The image of this god is not 
made of wood or stone, but is simply a broad strip 
of paper on which the uncouth features of the 
deity are printed. His term of office expires with 
the end of the year, when he is sent off in flames 
to the regions above, and his successor — a new 
paper image — is installed with due ceremonies, 
and another year of espionage begins. 

The Rain Dragon is another creature of the 
imagination to which the Chinese render homage. 
They believe that there is a great dragon some- 
where above the earth, in the region of the clouds, 
that gives or withholds rain at his will. If he is 
offended by the sins of the people, especially by 
the unfaithfulness of the rulers, there is no rain. 
If the drought be long continued, and a famine 
be probable, there is great alarm throughout the 
threatened district, and the people look to their 
rulers for relief. One of the measures adopted by 
the magistrates is a proclamation forbidding the 



250 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

slaughter of animals. They first forbid the slaugh- 
ter of the larger animals; but if the drought be 
continued, the prohibition extends to poultry, and 
even to fish. This prohibition is not to enforce a 
general fast, but to show respect for the Buddhist 
doctrine which forbids the taking of life. Meat 
that has already been slaughtered may be eaten in 
any quantity. There is no intention on the part of 
the people to exercise self-denial. 

If rain does not follow the arrest of the slaugh- 
ter of animals, then other measures are resorted 
to, such as processions in which a great image of 
the dragon is conspicuous. The magistrates ap- 
pear in the processions with signs of mourning 
upon their persons. They visit the temples where 
they prostrate themselves, offer prayers, with con- 
fession of sin, not only on their own behalf but as 
the official representatives of the people. Some- 
times, in seasons of great distress because of the 
drought, the idols in the temples are brought out of 
their cool retreats and exposed in the sun, that 
they may know how hot and dry it is. I witnessed 
a scene like this in the city of Shanghai, China, in 
1856, during a season of protracted drought. The 
magistrates said the gods seemed to be indifferent 
to the miseries of the people, and did not believe 
that the land was burning up under a rainless sky. 
They were therefore dragged out of the temples 
and placed in the public square, where they could 
feel the full force of the sun's heat. After a time 
rain fell, and the people believed it was because 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 25 1 

the gods were made to realize the true condition 
of things ! The Rain Dragon is worshiped only 
when his help is needed. In ordinary circumstan- 
ces he is entirely neglected. 

The God of Thunder is one of the deities which 
the Chinese worship on occasions when he man- 
ifests himself in the thunder storm or tempest. 
They are greatly alarmed when they hear his aw- 
ful voice, as they believe, " tearing the clouds of 
heaven asunder." Many observe a fast on the 
day in which they hear thunder. It is a common 
belief among the people that no one is ever struck 
by lightning who has not committed some crime 
for which the law has not or cannot punish him. 
They say, however, that this god has a great dis- 
like for snakes, and that it may happen sometimes, 
when he is hurling his bolts at a serpent concealed 
under a house, that he may strike one of the in- 
mates ; but this is purely an accident, and an excep- 
tion to the rule. The image of this god is an enor- 
mous creature, resembling a huge giant with many 
fantastic additions. With one hand he beats a 
great drum, and in the other he holds a number of 
thunderbolts. He is a fearful monster in appear- 
ance. 

The God of Fire is an object of special fear. 
Large temples are erected to him, and at the vernal 
equinox and winter solstice he is worshiped with 
expensive ceremonies. Business men give liber- 
ally to the support of this god, as men in our coun- 
try give to insurance companies, to protect them- 



252 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

selves against loss by fire. On one occasion at 
Shanghai, in 1855, a fire broke out in the busi- 
ness portion of the city and fifty thousand dollars' 
worth of property was destroyed. Those who 
had property in the vicinity of the fire, but which 
escaped destruction, spent some two hundred dol- 
lars in thank offerings as an expression of their 
gratitude to the God of Fire for protecting their 
property. It so happened, however, that another 
fire visited the neighborhood some weeks after- 
wards, and the property of the men who had 
made the thank offering was consumed. This 
greatly enraged them, and they vowed that they 
would never worship the God of Fire again. Dur- 
ing the fire the shrine of the principal deity in the 
neighborhood was consumed and his godship per- 
ished in the flames ! One would think that such 
proofs of the folly of trusting in idols would drive 
the people away from their altars. But where 
should they go? They do not know the true God. 
Besides, " they are mad upon their idols." 

Calling Back the Spirit. — The Chinese, no 
matter where they die, are anxious to be buried in 
their native soil; not because they love their own 
country so much, but because they desire to lie 
where their descendants can visit their tombs and 
perform the " ancestral rites," without which their 
spirits would have neither friends, food, nor cloth- 
ing in the next world. With no one to worship at 
their tombs, they would be of all the spirits in hades 
the most miserable. This is the reason why so 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 253 

many bodies of Chinese are sent from California 
back to China for burial. 

When a Chinese dies abroad, his body is always 
carried to his native place, if the family can bear 
the expense. But it would be a sad thing if the 
spirit should be unable or unwilling to accompany 
the body ; they have therefore a ceremony by which 
the spirit is persuaded to return and remain with 
the body. If one is lost at sea, the friends go as 
near as possible to the place where he was lost, 
and call back the spirit. Sometimes immediately 
after the breath leaves the body of one who dies at 
home, a member of the family takes some part of the 
deceased's wearing apparel, and going to the door 
calls in tender, pleading tones to the spirit to come 
back. If the person supposed to be dead should 
revive, the friends believe that the spirit heard the 
call and returned to the body. The priests are fre- 
quently employed to assist in the ceremony. 

When a child dies under sixteen years of age, 
quite a different performance takes place, one that 
nothing less cruel than heathenism could tolerate. 
This is called " sweeping away the spirit." The 
object is to frighten away the spirit of the child, 
that it may not trouble the famil}^ This unnatural 
and foolish conceit is based on the belief that the 
child suffered an injury or wrong from one of the 
parents, in a former state of existence, and that it 
was sent into the family to avenge the wrong. 
They wish, therefore, so thoroughly to frighten its 
little ghost by firing crackers and beating drums 



254 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

that it will never venture to return. When a child 
dies in a Chinese family there is no lamentation, 
no weeping or wailing, as when a grown person 
dies. No special care is taken of its little body. 
It is treated in all respects as a mere " thing " — 
classed with the lower animals. There are, how- 
ever, mothers in China, in whom the natural ma- 
ternal instinct is too strong to be crushed out by 
even the heartless teachings of heathenism — they 
love their children. In some places, where two 
children, betrothed by their parents, die before 
the marriage ceremony is performed, their spirits 
are married. The tablets of the children are used 
as representatives of the little ones, and they are 
married in due form. Sometimes the parents of 
dead children enter into marriage contracts for 
the deceased babies, and their spirits are supposed 
to be united in the spirit world I 

Nearly all the Chinese superstitions are in some 
way connected with the spirits of the dead, and it 
may be said truly, I think, that they are ** in bond- 
age through fear " of ghosts all their lives. They 
believe the air to be full of spirits, that they are 
going to and fro night and day ; and what seems 
strange, they fear the spirits of their dead friends 
seemingl}^ as much as any others. All disembod- 
ied spirits are supposed to be malignant, and to 
possess great power to harm men in the flesh. 
I have perhaps furnished enough examples of pop- 
ular superstitions for the present purpose. I will, 
however, give some of a different character illus- 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 255 

trating the Chinese ideas of astrology, lucky and 
unlucky days, etc.* 

Wo)'shij^ of the Stars. — Astrology has been a 
subject of study in China from a very early day. 
Many of the stars are worshiped. Temples are 
erected to the " Seven Precious Ones; " that is, 
the seven principal stars in the '* Great Bear." 
The God of Literature is supposed to reside in 
one of the stars in this constellation. The " Great 
Dipper" is an object of veneration ; it is supposed 
to possess great influence over the fortunes of 
men, and is the guardian of the official residences 
of China. The five planets — Mercury, Venus, 
Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — rule over the year and 
the four seasons. These planets are also con- 
nected with the twelve signs of the zodiac. These 
signs are represented by twelve animals — the rat, 
cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, 
monkey, cock, dog, and bear. The influence 
of the planets, combined with other occult forces, 
controls the destinies of individuals and nations, 
and constitutes the heathen providence that gov- 
erns the world. The priest, or diviner, casts the 
horoscope for the year, and then for every day, 
hour, and moment of time. In one year all central 
places will be lucky, another year unlucky ; some- 
times the north, sometimes the south, east, or 
west. Certain days will be lucky, and certain 

* For much that I have said in regard to the superstitions 
of the Chinese, I am indebted to Drs. Culbertson, Morrison, 
Maclav, and others. 



256 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

Other days unlucky. It is the duty of the Astro- 
nomical Board, at Peking, to ascertain beforehand 
the peculiar character of each day in the year, and 
report it in the Imperial Almanac. Thus every act 
of life is supposed to be dependent upon these 
ever - changing influences. The whole Chinese 
people live and die under bondage to the grossest 
superstitions. There are a few wise men, how- 
ever, among the many millions of China, who do 
not believe in these foolish vagaries, but the num- 
ber is small. The devil is a cruel master. There 
is no joy, peace, or hope in his service; all is sor- 
row, darkness, despair, and death. 

Table Turning. — The Chinese, long before such 
a thing was thought of in Europe or America, were 
consulting spirits in the other world by " medi- 
ums," '' spirit writing," "table turning," etc. .The 
*' medium " is a sorceress by profession, and is 
supposed to be able to do wonderful things by the 
aid of her patron demon. She is feared, and her 
services are often invoked to ward off some threat- 
ened evil, or to conciliate some malignant spirit 
that is supposed to be troubling the family. These 
superstitious beliefs and ceremonies, like many 
other customs of the Chinese, differ widely in dif- 
ferent localities; and it is important for the reader 
to remember this fact, for he will see contradictory 
statements in regard to many of the peculiar usages 
of different provinces. 

The Chinese believe that not only the spirits of 
men, but the ghosts of animals, are able to give 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 257 

information through the " spirit medium." Some 
years ago (1852), Dr. Culbertson says, a " Tao- 
ist priest professed to be in communication with 
the spirit of an old fox, which had Hved thousands 
of years ago. The fox had become a young lady, 
and would converse through the priest with per- 
sons who wished to know the, best means of pro- 
moting their worldly interests." The priest was 
probably a ventriloquist. 

The process of "table turning" is generally 
about as follows, with some local variations: The 
table is turned upside down upon a pair of chop- 
sticks laid at right angles over the mouth of a bowl 
filled with water. Four persons lay one hand on 
each leg of the table, while with the free hand 
each grasps one hand of his neighbor, thus forming 
*' a circle." A prayer is now chanted by the " me- 
dium," and soon the table begins to move. The 
persons forming the " circle " move with it, and in 
a few minutes it is whirling rapidly upon its axis, 
until it is thrown off its balance on the floor. This 
is the " table-turning mystery." The " medium " 
may have communication with the spirits orally, 
but usually the ghosts prefer to write their mes- 
sages, and the table is thus generally brought into 
use. The table is covered with sand or flour. 
Then a small basket without a handle is armed 
with a pencil or chopstick tied to its side. The 
basket is then turned upside down, its edges rest- 
ing upon the tips of one or two fingers of two per- 
sons standing on opposite sides of the table in 
17 



258 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

such manner that the pencil touches the surface of 
the table. After a short time the basket begins to 
move, and traces the characters, which any liter- 
ary person can read. And thus the message from 
the spirit is communicated to the medium, often on 
subjects of which the operators know nothing. 
Sometimes the spirit invoked cannot write, then 
nothing can be done. 

Charms and amulets of various kinds are em- 
ployed to ward off evil influences, to drive away 
malignant spirits, and to cure diseases. In case 
of sickness, spells — consisting of mystical charac- 
ters written on paper — are burned, and the patient 
drinks the ashes in tea. Sometimes the poor, when 
suffering with extreme hunger, resort to a similar 
charm to drive away the pangs of starvation. 
Mothers use amulets to protect their children from 
evil spirits, bad luck, sickness, etc. The " eight 
diagrams" are generally employed for this pur- 
pose. They are engraved on a copper disk and 
suspended by a silk cord around the neck of the 
child. The Chinese believe that the evil spirits 
which infest the home have a great antipathy to 
red, and that a piece of red cloth worn on the per- 
son will drive them away. In addition to this pre- 
caution, some families purchase the figure of a 
white tiger, an imaginary creature whose power 
they fear. A piece of meat is suspended from the 
tongue of this paper monster, which he is sup- 
posed to eat. The whole affair is then burned, 
and the danger from this source averted. 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 259 

Tall pagodas are erected in the vicinity of cities 
for protection against evil influences. The cele- 
brated porcelain tower at Nanking was erected 
for this purpose. It was a wonderful structure, 
built by the third emperor of the Ming dynast}^, 
about A.D. 141 3. It was two hundred and sixty 
feet high, and three hundred feet in circumference 
at the base. It was built of porcelain beautifully 
glazed, and of various colors. The most promi- 
nent color was green, mingled with red, yellow, 
and white. It was destroyed by the Taiping in- 
surgents in 1855, one of the most outrageous pieces 
of vandalism on record in the history of the world. 
Of course it had no value as a protection against 
evil influences, but it was justly classed with the 
wonders of human labor and skill. 

The Rev. Arthur H. Smith, in his '' Chinese 
Characteristics," says: *'It has often been re- 
marked, and with every appearance of truth, that 
there is no other civilized nation in existence which 
is under such bondage to superstition and credulity 
as the Chinese. Wealthy merchants and learned 
scholars are not ashamed to be seen, on the two 
days of the month set apart for the purpose, wor- 
shiping the fox, the weasel, the hedgehog, the 
snake, and the rat, all of which are printed on 
placards, styled * Their Excellencies,' and are 
thought to have an important effect on human 
destiny." Could anything be more absurd or ri- 
diculous than a high official, in his robes of office, 
on his knees knocking his head on the ground 



26o HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

before the image of a rat, and addressing the mis- 
erable little creature as *'Your Excellency;" or 
worshiping a hedgehog with the same ceremony? 
Mr. Smith says: "Not many years ago a promi- 
nent statesman fell on his knees before a water- 
snake which some one had been pleased to rep- 
resent as the embodiment of the God of Floods, 
supposed to be the incarnation of an official of a 
former dynasty, whose success with brimming riv- 
ers was supposed to be marvelous." 

PECULIARITIES OF THE CHIXESE. 

The eccentricities of Chinese character and con- 
duct have become proverbial throughout the civi- 
lized world. It is a common remark among Euro- 
peans that if you wish to know how the Chinese 
would do a certain thing, consider how you would 
do it, and then reverse the process. Their na- 
tional isolation and the inordinate self-conceit of 
the race have led to the development of many 
singular characteristics which distinguish them as 
the most unique and peculiar people in the world. 
Their absurd veneration of the past has kept them 
stationary in thought for centuries. Nothing is 
too absurd to command respect, provided it be- 
longs to an early antiquity. Mistakes in their 
classics have been carefully perpetuated genera- 
tion after generation, because found in some an- 
cient copies. The Chinese have "the habit of 
announcing as a reason for a fact the fact itself. 
' Wh}^ do you not put salt into your bread cakes ? ' 
you ask a Chinese cook. ' We do not put salt into 



SUPERSTITIONS OF THE CHINESE. 26l 

our bread cakes,' is the explanation. ' How is it 
with so much and such beautiful ice in your city 
none of it is stored up for summer? ' ' No. We 
do not store up ice for summer,' is the answer."* 

The following list of eccentric variations from 
what we regard as right and proper may suffice 
to illustrate what is usually meant by "Chinese 
peculiarities:" 

The place of honor among the Chinese is on the 
left hand, and not on the right hand as with us. 

The Chinaman shakes his own hands, and not 
the hand of his friend when greeting him. 

The Chinese magnetic needle points to the 
south, and not to the north. 

The Chinaman sleeps with his head on a block 
of wood, or on a brick, instead of resting it on a 
pillow. 

The Chinese carpenter pulls his plane toward 
himself, instead of pushing it from him. He also 
pulls his saw, instead of pushing it as we do. 

The tailor pushes his needle from him in sew- 
ing; and instead of putting his " goose " in the fire 
to heat it, he puts the fire in the goose. 

The Chinaman begins to read at the end of the 
book, or on the right hand, and not at the left 
hand as we do; and he reads from top to bottom 
of the page, and not from left to right. 

He begins his dinner with the dessert, and ends 
with the soup. 

He scratches his foot when puzzled, and not his 

* Smith: "Chinese Characteristics." 



262 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

head; laughs when his friends die, or when re- 
lating bad news, and weeps over trifles. 

When one Chinaman sends a present to his 
friend, he expects one in return of equivalent 
value. He will offer you his house and all it con- 
tains as a free gift, with the understanding that he 
means no more than when he asks you to take a 
seat. He does not mean for you to carry away 
the chair when you leave. 

The Chinese never uncover the head in presence 
of company; it is considered an act of unbecom- 
ing familiarity. 

A husband never speaks of loving his w^ife any 
more than a European would speak of loving his 
wife's servant maid. To inquire after the health 
of a man's wife, or of anything concerning her, 
is considered not merely an act of rudeness, but a 
serious offense. 

The gift of a coffin or a burial suit of clothes is 
considered an appropriate expression of filial piety 
on the part of children. Ever}^ Chinaman desires 
to see his burial outfit before he dies. 

The average Chinaman seems to see no more 
moral wrong in a lie than the Englishman does in 
a pun. It is simply amusing. 

The Chinese have no pockets in their clothes. 
The sleeves of the outer garment serve the pur- 
pose of pockets. 

They do not use feathers for beds, pillows, or 
clothing, but suffer them to be blown away by the 
wind, or decay in the back yards. It is strange 



SUPERSTITIONS. OF THE CHINESE. 263 

that a people who appear to utilize everything else 
should neglect this. 

A Chinese on being introduced to a stranger 
inquires first as to his honorable name, and sec- 
ondly as to his honor's age. 

On meeting of friends the salutation is, " Have 
you eaten rice?" The answer is always in the af- 
firmative, though neither of the persons may have 
tasted food for twenty-four hours. 

The Chinese never drink cold water, but slake 
their thirst with hot tea. They do not drink milk 
nor eat butter, and express great disgust for cheese. 
They may eat snails, slugs, and taste puppies, but 
will not touch cheese. 



^ 




TRAVELING ON A WHEELBARROW. 



The elderly woman on the right-hand seat of the wheelbarrow is Mrs. 
Quay, the celebrated " Bible Woman " of the Southern Methodist Mission, 
Shang-hai, China. 



(264) 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Christian Missions Among the Chinese. 

TRADITION ascribes the first effort to con- 
vert the Chinese to Christianity to the apostle 
Thomas, but there is no authentic record to sup- 
port the tradition. That the gospel was preached 
in China at a very early day, there is good reason 
to believe.* 

The Nestor i an missionaries arrived in China 
about the year 505. The only record of their la- 
bors is a tablet found in the province of Shen-See, 
in 1625, known as the ** Nestorian monument." 
This tablet was erected in 788, and shows that 
Christianity had made great progress among the 
Chinese, 

The Roman Catholic Church has had missions 
in China since 1288, when Monte Corvino was 
sent out by Pope Nicholas IV. to Tartary and 
China. He is reported to have been very success- 
ful, and the missions he founded continued to pros- 
per until the expulsion of the Manchoos in 1368. 

The second period of Romish missions in China 
includes a space of one hundred and fifty years, 
from the time that Matteo Ricci established him- 
self at Canton in 1581 to 1736, when an edict 

* Se.e " Encyclopedia of Missions," Vol. I., p. 264. Also 
"Middle Kingdom," Vol. II., p. 290; Mosheim, etc. 

(265) 



266 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

was issued by the Emperor Yung-Ching sending 
all the missionaries out of the empire. 

The edict of Yung-Ching marks another epoch 
in the history of Romish missions in China. From 
that day to the present time they have had a va- 
ried success in their work, sometimes in favor 
with the government and people, and sometimes 
sorely persecuted. They are still in the field, and 
claim a very large membership, but recent statis- 
tics show that they are decreasing in numbers and 
influence. The Romish Church in China has not 
only become grossly secular, but extensively pa- 
ganized. It has compromised with the supersti- 
tions of heathenism, and sadly betrayed the cause 
of Christianity in China. 

Protestant missions in China* date from about 
the beginning of the present century. Dr. Rob- 
ert Morrison, of the London Missionary Society, 
has the honor of being the first Protestant mis- 
sionary to the Chinese. He was appointed in 1807, 
but was unable to obtain passage in an English 
ship, because the East India Company refused all 
missionaries passage in any of their ships, either 
to India or China. Dr. Morrison came to Amer- 
ica and sailed from New York for Canton, China, 
in the ship " Trident," May 10, 1807. ^^ England 
has the credit of appointing the first Protestant 
missionary to China, our country has the honor of 
furnishing him passage to his field of labor. f 

*Medhurst's "State and Prospects of China," Chap. X.; Life 
of Morrison, Vol. I. "j" Morrison's Memoirs, Vol. I., p. 130. 



CHRfSTIAN MISSIONS. 267 

The London Mission has done a good work in 
China. The men and women sent out have been 
deeply interested in their labors, and have mani- 
fested a high degree of intelligence and zeal. 
They have been very successful in making con- 
verts. 

In 1829 the American Board of Commissioners 

for Foreign Missions sent the Rev. C. E. Bridge- 
man, the first American missionary to China, a 
man of ability, learning, and piety. He did a vast 
amount of valuable literary work. He founded, 
and conducted for many years, the Chinese Repos- 
itory. I knew him well, and esteemed him greatly. 

The American Baptist Missionary Union sent out 
the first missionary to the Chinese in 1833. He 
resided at first at Bangkok, in Siam, not being 
able to enter China. 

In 1838 the American Presbyterian Board be- 
gan its first missionary station at Singapore, and 
not in China, for the same reason that the Baptists 
began operations at Bangkok. 

In 1842, at the close of the first opium war be- 
tween England and China, five of the principal 
ports of China were opened to foreigners, and the 
island of Hong-Kong was ceded to the English. 
The country was thus made accessible to Chris- 
tian missionaries, not only at the five ports, but 
indirectly to the inhabitants of the surrounding 
country. The Churches of Protestant Christen- 
dom immediately prepared to improve the new 
opportunities thus providentially afforded for 



268 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

work in China. Societies and laborers increased 
rapidly, and the opening of additional ports by 
the Tien-Tsin treaty still further enlarged their 
privileges and stimulated their zeal. There are 
now in China the representatives of nearly forty 
different missionary boards. A good degree of 
success has attended their efforts for the last sev- 
eral years, and the native churches are becoming 
more active and earnest in their efforts to propa- 
gate the gospel among their fellow-countrymen. 
Some of these churches are not only self-sup- 
porting, but contribute liberally to the cause of 
missions. The Bible societies of Europe and 
America, and the Bible and Tract Society of Chi- 
na, are doing a noble work. 

According to the '* Encyclopedia of Missions" 
(1891), there are now in China (or were in 1890) 
1,295 missionaries; ordained natives, 209; unor- 
dained natives, 1,260; hospitals, 61 ; dispensaries, 
43; patients, 348,439; organized churches, 520; 
wholly self-supporting, 94 ; communicants, 37,287 ; 
contributions of native Christians from 1876 to 
1889, $36,884.54. 

It does not come within the scope of this volume 
to give a detailed account of missionary work and 
its results in China. A brief sketch in outline is 
all that can be given. Books and periodicals can 
be procured almost anywhere from which full in- 
formation in regard to the particulars of the work 
may be obtained. The average reader would not 
be specially interested in the details of the business 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 269 

management of missionary boards and committees 
at home, or in the financial difficulties which limit 
and embarrass the laborers in the field; hence I 
omit them. 

The Churches of America are represented in 
China by their agents, as follows: The American 
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, 
1829 ; American Protestant Episcopal, 1834; 
American Presbyterian (North), 1838; American 
Reformed, 1842; Methodist Episcopal Church, 
(North), 1847; Seventh Day Baptist, 1847; 
American Baptist (South), 1847; Methodist Epis- 
copal Church (South), 1848; American Presby- 
terian (South), 1868; American Congregational, 
1887.* 

WORK IN THE MISSION FIELD. 

It may interest my youthful readers to have 
some account of what the missionaries in China 
do, and how they do it. 

I. The first thing, of course, is the acquisition 
of the language. (For some account of the Chi- 
nese language the reader is referred to Chapter 
v.). The usual method is to employ a Chinese 
teacher (and he should be a man of some literary 
attainments). You take your seat with him at a 
table, and begin the laborious and discouraging 
task of learning one of the most difficult languages 
in the world. An old missionary said he believed 
the devil had invented the Chinese language to 
keep the people from becoming Christians. Like 

* " Encyclopedia of Missions," 1891. 



270 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

the people, it is heathen^ and you have to deal with 
it accordingly. 

You are at first practically deaf and dumb, for 
you can neither speak nor hear with any degree 
of intelligence. You place your hand on some 
object, perhaps a book, and look at your teacher. 
He gives you the Chinese name for it, which you 
repeat after him, imitating as nearly as you can the 
strange sounds which he utters ; and so you pro- 
ceed to learn the names of things. After you 
have learned the names of the principal objects in 
your room, you tackle simple phrases and sen- 
tences, such as the forms of salutation, the ques- 
tion, " What is this? " and thus acquire a vocabu- 
lary. There are *' phrase books," prepared by 
foreigners for beginners, which aid in the process 
of learning the spoken language, and assist also in 
learning to read. You air your limited vocabu- 
lary with your servants and the people about you. 
Thus graduall}^, it may be very gradually, you ac- 
quire a knowledge of the language, and by and by 
you are able to deliver a short address, which in 
your complacency you may call a sermon, but it 
will be many months before you can really speak 
the language with sufficient fluency and clearness 
to be readily understood by the people generally. 
It is very discouraging, but " time, patience, and 
perseverance accomplish all things." 

2. The next thing is to deliver your message. 
You have longed for the time when you could tell 
the heathen the wonderful story of God's love to 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 27 1 

man ; how ' * Christ Jesus came into the world to save 
sinners;" how he hved among men an ideal life of 
love, purity, and goodness ; how he healed the sick, 
comforted the unfortunate, raised the dead, and 
opened up the way of life to a fallen and guilty 
race. You have desired most earnestly to tell them 
how the Saviour " suffered for us sinners and for 
our salvation;" how he was crucified; how he rose 
from the dead, and ascended to heaven where 
he now lives and reigns Lord of all. You have 
dreamed of leading some poor benighted and lost 
wanderers in the wilderness of heathenism to God 
and heaven. 

HINDRANCES TO MISSIONARY WORK. 

But now that you are ready to enter upon the 
work in earnest, you find new difficulties and 
trials. You soon discover that the people for 
whose good you have left country, home, friends, 
and all you hold dear, despise you and your 
message. The rulers of the country hate Chris- 
tianity bitterly, and the educated classes treat it 
and its teachers with lofty scorn. The common 
people call you a '* foreign devil," and the official 
and literary classes characterize you as a *' barba- 
rian of low grade." You have perhaps imagined 
that the heathen were tired of the unmeaning cer- 
emonies of their religion, and were anxious for 
something better, and that they would hear you 
gladly. It is therefore a severe disappointment to 
you to learn that they want nothing to do with you 
or your religion. 



272 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

The hindrances to missionary work are numer- 
ous and great : not only the prejudices against you 
as a foreigner whom the natives regard as an ene- 
my, but you are an object of suspicion to the igno- 
rant masses. Fearful stories are told of crimes com- 
mitted by missionaries against nature and human- 
ity ; that they use the eyes and brains of little chil- 
dren for medicine, and many other horrible things. 
There is no other class so unapproachable as the 
self-conceited literati. They are satisfied with the 
teachings of Confucius, and with the hoary tradi- 
tions of their country. They will not listen to the 
teachings of the missionaries. Like the scribes 
and Pharisees, they dominate public opinion, and 
are regarded as the teachers and leaders on all 
subjects of thought. They shut up the kingdom 
of heaven against men, for they neither go in 
themselves, neither suffer them that are entering 
to go in. (Matthew xxiii. 13.) The hindrances 
may be summarized briefly: Inveteracy of na- 
tional and race prejudice; false religions possess 
the ground: political jealousy of the rulers; social 
customs; ancestral worship; and the obstinate op- 
position of all classes against change. Such are 
some of the difliculties with which the missionary 
has to contend, in addition to the carnal nature of 
man which hates God. 

The encouragements to hope for ultimate suc- 
cess, if not so numerous as the hindrances, are 
much more powerful: the promises of God which 
are full and definite ; the success already attained 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 273 

is great; Christian nations control the poHtical 
and commercial interests of the world; they hold 
in their vaults the wealth of the world ; they com- 
mand the great armies of the world, and can dic- 
tate terms of peace or war to all the heathen na- 
tions of the earth ; they possess the productive 
intellect of the world, and are the only nations 
that are making progress in the arts and sciences. 
Above all, and beyond all other reasons to hope 
for the conversion of China, is the inherent di- 
vine power of the gospel. Its Author is omnip- 
otent, and his omnipotence is pledged for its ulti- 
mate triumph over all its foes; "the heathen are 
to be given to the Son of God for his inheritance, 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his pos- 
session." **As I live, saith the Lord, every knee 
shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to 
God." 

It is not strange that a conservative heathen 
people like the Chinese should dislike to have 
their religious belief taken from them, and the 
creed of a stranger substituted in its place ; to have 
all the traditions of a long religious history abol- 
ished, and the history and traditions of a com- 
paratively insignificant race (the Jews), of whom 
they know nothing, made the basis of their new 
religious faith, and thus required to forsake the 
faith of their ancestors, whom they venerate with 
idolatrous superstition. All this we can under- 
stand. It is natural. But how men and women 
who live in a Christian land, and who enjoy the 
18 



274 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

blessings of an advanced Christian civilization, 
can become the enemies and persecutors of their 
fellow-countrymen because they have gone to 
heathen lands to teach the gospel which has cre- 
ated this noble civilization, is not so easily under- 
stood. 

Among the sharpest trials to which the foreign 
missionary is exposed are the cruel and unjust 
criticisms of his own countr^^men at home and 
abroad. The secular press has recently been 
unusually severe in its animadversions upon the 
missionaries in China. False accusations have 
been brought against them. They have been 
called fools and fanatics, and charged with being 
the cause of all the troubles in China. This is not 
the result of ignorance on the part of the critics, 
for most of them know better, but the spirit of car- 
nal hostility to the gospel. 

There are, however, some noble exceptions to 
the disparaging criticisms of the secular press, even 
among those who do not proclaim themselves the 
friends of foreign missions, but who have informed 
themselves as to the work the foreign missionaries 
are doing for the heathen, and who have the hon- 
esty and the courage to tell the truth. 

The recent murder of missionaries in China, 
and the destruction of mission property, have 
called forth the sympathies of all good people, 
and also furnished an occasion for the enemies of 
righteousness to say many hard and bitter things 
about missionaries and their work. A better class 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 275 

of people do not live on the face of the earth than 
the missionaries in China. I know them and I 
know their work, and I know that what I say as 
to their character is true in every letter. I had 
the privilege of living and working in that field for 
years, and I know whereof I affirm. 

The following communication from the Hon. 
Charles Denby, United States Minister to Chi- 
na, addressed to the Secretary of State, regarding 
the work of the missionaries in China, is a fair 
and impartial statement of facts. It was written 
in March, 1895, and published in all of our leading 
newspapers, except those unfriendly to the cause 
of Christian missions. It is an able and ample 
defense of those devout men and women who are 
laboring for the good of that benighted and de- 
graded people, *' not counting their lives dear unto 
themselves," but sacrificing everything for the sa- 
cred cause they represent. Mr. Denby says : 

'* The main broad and crucial question to be 
answered, touching missionary work in China, is: 
Does it do good? The question may properly be 
divided into two. Let us look at them separately. 

" First. Does missionary work benefit the Chi- 
nese? I think that no one can controvert the pat- 
ent fact that the Chinese are enormously benefited 
by the labor of the missionaries. Foreign hos- 
pitals are a great boon to the sick, China, before 
the advent of the foreigner, did not know what 
surgery was. There are more than twenty hos- 
pitals in China which are presided over by men of 



276 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

as great ability as can be found elsewhere in the 
world. Dr. Kerr's hospital is one of the great 
institutions of its kind in the world. The vice- 
roy, Li Hung Chang, has for years maintained at 
Tien-Tsin at his own expense a foreign hospital. 

"In the matter of education the movement is 
immense. There are schools and colleges all over 
China taught by the missionaries. I have been 
present often at the exhibitions given by these 
schools. They show progress in a great degree. 
The educated Chinaman who speaks English be- 
comes a new man. He commences to think. A 
long time before the war the emperor was study- 
ing English, and it is said was fast acquiring the 
language. 

" Nowhere is education more sought than in 
China. The government is to some extent found- 
ed on it. The systems of examination prevailing 
in the district, the province, and in Peking, are too 
well known to require comment. The graduates 
become expectant officials. There is a Chinese 
imperial college at Peking, the Tung Wen, pre- 
sided over by our distinguished fellow-citizen. Dr. 
W. A. P. Martin; also a university conducted by 
the Methodist mission. 

'^ There are also many foreign orphan asylurns 
in many cities, which take care of thousands of 
waifs. The missionaries translate into Chinese 
many scientific and philosophical works. A for- 
mer missionary, Dr. Edkins, translated a whole 
series of school readers. 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 277 

" Reflect that all these benefactions come to the 
Chinese without much, if any, cost. When charges 
are made, they are exceedingly small, and are made 
only when they are necessary to prevent a rush, 
which in this vast population would overwhelm any 
institution. There are various anti-opium hospitals, 
where the victims of this vice are cured. There 
are industrial schools and workshops. 

** This is a very brief and incomplete summary 
of what missionaries are doing for the Chinese. 
Protestants and Catholics from nearly every coun- 
try under the sun are engaged in this work, and in 
my opinion they do nothing but good. I leave out 
of this discussion the religious benefits conferred 
by converting Chinese to Christianity. This, of 
course, is the one supreme object and purpose of 
the missionaries, to which all else is subsidiary, but 
the subject is not to be discussed by a Minister of 
the United States. There is no established reli- 
gion in the United States, and the American Bud- 
dhist, Mohammedan, Jew, infidel, or any other reli- 
gionist, would receive at the hands of his country's 
representatives abroad exactly the same consider- 
ation and protection that a Christian would. I can 
only say that converts to Christianity are numer- 
ous. There are supposed to be fortv thousand 
Protestant converts now in China, and at least fifty 
thousand Catholic converts. There are man^^ na- 
tive Christian churches. The converts seem to be 
as devout as people of any other race. 

•*As far as my knowledge extends, I can and do 



278 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

say that the missionaries in China are self-sacri- 
ficing; that their Uves are pure; that they are de- 
voted to their work; that their influence is bene- 
ficial to the natives ; that the arts and sciences and 
civilization are greatly spread by their efforts; 
that many useful Western books are translated by 
them into Chinese; that they are the leaders in all 
charitable work, giving largely themselves and 
personally disbursing the funds with which they 
are intrusted; that they do make converts, and 
such converts are mentally benefited by conver- 
sion. 

'* In answer to these statements, which are usu- 
ally acknowledged to be true, it does not do to say, 
as if the answer were conclusive, that the literati 
and gentry are usually opposed to missionaries. 
This antagonism was to have been expected. The 
missionaries antagonize the worship of ancestors, 
which is one of the fundamental principles of the 
Chinese polity. They compel their converts to 
keep Sunday holy. The Chinese have no Sab- 
bath. They work every day except New-year's 
day and other holidays. No new religion ever won 
its way without meeting with serious opposition. 

" Under the treaties the missionary has the right 
to go to China. This right being admitted, no 
amount of antagonism can prevent its exercise. 

'' In the second place, let us see whether and 
how foreign countries are benefited by missionary 
work done in China. 

*' Missionaries are the pioneers of trade and 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 279 

commerce. Civilization, learning, and instruction 
breed new wants which commerce supplies. Look 
at the electric telegraph now in every province in 
China but one ; look at the steamships which ply 
along the coast from Hong-Kong to New-Chwang, 
and on the Yang-tse up the Ichang. Look at the 
cities which have sprung up like Shanghai, Tien- 
Tsin, Hankow — handsome foreign cities, object 
lessons to the Chinese. Look at the railroad be- 
ing now built from the Yellow Sea to the Amoor, 
of which about two hundred miles are completed. 
Will any one say that the fifteen hundred mission- 
aries in China of Protestants, and perhaps more of 
Catholics, have not contributed to these results? 

" Two hundred and fifty years ago the pious 
Catholic fathers taught astronomy, mathematics, 
and the languages at Peking. The interior of 
China would have been nearly unknown to the 
outer world had not the missionaries visited it and 
described it. Some one may say that commercial 
agents might have done as much; but they are not 
allowed to locate in the interior. The missionary, 
inspired by holy zeal, goes everywhere, and by de- 
grees foreign commerce and trade follow. I sup- 
pose that whenever an uncivilized or semi-civilized 
country becomes civilized, its trade and dealings 
with Western nations increase. Humanity has not 
devised any better, or even as good, engine or 
means for civilizing savage peoples as prosetytism 
to Christianity. The history of the world attests 
this fact. 



28o HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

** In the interests, therefore, of civiHzation, mis- 
sionaries ought not onty to be tolerated, but ought to 
receive protection to which the}^ are entitled from 
officials and encouragement from other classes of 
people. 

'' It is too early now to consider what effect the 
existing war ma}^ have on the interests of missions. 
It is quite probable, however, that the spirit of 
progress developed by it will make mission work 
more important and influential than it has ever 
been." 

Bishop Hendrix says of Colonel Denby, whom 
he met in Peking during his recent visit to China: 

" Colonel Charles Denb}', American Minister to 
China, is the dean of the diplomatic corps in Pe- 
king, having already served his country there for 
the past ten years. The exceptional honor shown 
him of being continued at his important post dur- 
ing the political changes at home is due to his 
marked fitness for his present position. Eminent 
as a lawyer in this countr}^, his legal learning has 
been of great service to the Chinese empire no less 
than to his own countrymen. His clear statement 
to the Secretar}^ of State of the value and progress 
of Christian missions in China has attracted wide 
attention. He has no sympathy with the globe- 
trotters or naval officers whose knowledge of Chi- 
na is confined to a few treaty ports, and who have 
never looked into the work being done by mission- 
aries, and yet who presume to pronounce unfavor- 
able and unjust judgment on what they know noth- 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 281 

ing about. Having the confidence of the Tsung Li 
Yamen, the foreign office of China, as no other am- 
bassador has, in view of his valued counsels dur- 
ing the late war and by virtue of his long official 
residence in Peking, Colonel Denby is in position 
to form a correct judgment, if anyone can do so. 
Much weight should therefore be given to the lan- 
guage of his dispatch to his government near the 
close of the war, when he said: ' It is quite prob- 
able that the spirit of progress developed by the 
war will make mission work more important and 
influential than ever.' " 




(282) 



LI HUNG CHANG. 



CONCLUSION. 
The Present Condition of China. 

1HAVE not the information necessary to a dis- 
cussion of the present political condition of 
China. Even men well informed in regard to the 
East generally, and for many years resident in 
China, seem unable to comprehend the situation ; 
not only because it is difficult to ascertain the facts 
involved in the question, but also because of the 
complications produced by the results of the re- 
cent war between China and Japan. This phase 
of Chinese politics must be left to the develop- 
ments of time and the skill of diplomacy. The 
Christian world will naturally contemplate with 
great concern the probable effects of the war upon 
the success of missions in China. It is too early 
to forecast, with any degree of certainty, what the 
results will be. In lieu of any opinion of my own 
on the subject, I quote the last two paragraphs of 
an article by Bishop Hendrix, in the May-June 
( 1896) number of the Southern Afethodist Review. 
The bishop enjoyed exceptional opportunities for 
gathering information in regard to the affairs of 
China during his recent visit, being admitted to in- 
terviews with the highest dignitaries of the empire, 
notably with Li Hung Chang, the greatest states- 
man in Asia ; and also with the representatives of 

(283) 



284 HISTORY OF THE CHINESE. 

foreign countries resident at Peking. The bishop 
is hopeful. The message sent through him from 
Li Hung Chang ought to thrill the heart of Chris- 
tendom. Will the Churches of America heed this 
"Macedonian cry?" The bishop says: 

*' The late war has done more to open the way 
for the salvation of China than any event in her 
hoary history. Her old leaders recognize their 
helplessness, and are seeking counsel. Reform 
clubs are being formed by her ablest scholars, 
who are asking papers from Christian missionaries 
and statesmen as to what reforms China most 
needs, and the best way of bringing them about. 
The able papers on education which were pre- 
pared for the Japanese government by Christian 
scholars in America and Europe are now being 
translated into Chinese for the use of the newly 
awakened among the sleeping masses of the Chi- 
nese empire. The payment of a great war indem- 
nity is making necessary the development of the 
hidden resources of the country. Grave mounds 
are no longer a protection to the plains which are 
required for the roadbed of great trunk lines, or to 
hillsides which hide the mineral wealth of the land. 
Other massacres may yet occur, for the evil spirit 
will rend and tear the victim ere he consents to be 
exorcised ; but China, stunned by a great blow, is 
not indifferent to the good Samaritan who waits by 
her bleeding form to pour in oil and wine. A 
Christian missionary has been asked to become 
foreign adviser to the Chinese government. Chi- 



CONCLUSION. 285 

nese officials of hi^^hest rank now ask the once de- 
spised missionary and foreigner what can be done 
for their humihated country. The greatest Chi- 
naman of his century, and the foremost statesman 
of Asia, Li Hung Chang, after building hospitals 
where foreign medical and surgical skill could be 
had to relieve the sufferings of his countrymen, and 
establishing colleges where foreign science could 
be taught the promising youth of China, chosen 
from the various mission schools where they had 
received their earlier training, and expressing his 
profound sense of obligation on the part of his 
country for the great service done by the schools 
and hospitals established by Christian missionaries, 
apologizes to the Christian world for the atrocities 
of his ignorant and brutal fellow-countrymen by 
sending this message: 'Say to the American -peo- 
■ple for me^ to send over 7nore men for the schools 
and the hospitals^ and I hope to be in position both 
to aid them a7id protect them.^ 

''This is China's one articulate message to 
the Cliristian nations which see her unstanched 
wounds, received in a war everywhere disastrous 
by land and sea. Nothing short of such humilia- 
tion could have called out such an acknowledg- 
ment of helplessness and of need. ' Lo, these 
shall come from far; and lo, these from the north 
and from the west; and these from the land of 
Sinim,' '' 



H 393 Bb 




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